Insomniacs
by RoseblossomWarrior
Summary: On their way to Resembool, Ed and Al come across Dr. Marcoh and his young assistant. Assuring that she'll be a good help for deciphering his research, Marcoh sends Delilah along with the brothers. However, though Delilah is indeed intelligent, the Elrics soon discover her odd habits. AlxOC. Dark elements from Chapter 25-onwards. Manga-based.
1. Chapter 1

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own my own OCs and this fic itself._

* * *

One

She closed the briefcase, taking care to note the clacking sound of the lock. The briefcase had a tendency to open if it wasn't closed all the way, and if the patient files fell out, she would have to alphabetize them once more. That in itself wouldn't be much of a bother, for she knew the exact order the papers were in, but she was supposed to meet Dr. Mauro soon.

"Thank you for checking on my daughter, Miss Delilah," Mr. Larson said.

Delilah nodded without looking at him. She was mesmerized by the dust motes that rose with the warm exhalations of Milly, who was currently sleeping on the small mattress in the bedroom. Delilah's mind itched to track Mote C's trajectory, but she forced herself to stand and pick up the briefcase before following after Mr. Larson to the front door. "Milly appears to be recovering from her cold very well," she stated. She realized belatedly that she had failed once again to put emotion into her voice. Dr. Mauro was always nagging her about that.

_You can't help people with that detached tone of yours, _he always said. _Patients won't trust you if you keep doing that._

Dr. Mauro also would mutter about how she couldn't maintain eye contact because of her lack of attention span to anything with a human face. _You may pick up our lessons like they're nothing, but your social skills would make thieves more welcome at an inn than you._

At first, Delilah had been hurt by these words, but she had long since learned that these lectures were rare and well-deserved. Dr. Mauro was the kindest person she knew, and since she was in his debt, she couldn't really argue against how he chose to chastise her.

"That's good to hear," Mr. Larson said, although Delilah was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice his words. He opened the door for her and politely ushered her out, and Delilah remembered to mutter a thank-you. She failed to catch the look of relief on his face when she left.

Delilah stepped out into the sunlight and was immediately bombarded with a sudden blast of wind. Her plain, white summer dress flapped in the wind and her long chestnut hair was blown into her face. She used her free hand to tuck the stubborn strands of hair behind her ear and walked along the road toward the center of town. She had originally planned to meet Dr. Mauro at the town square for lunch.

Along the way, she noticed an older woman feeding pigeons. Delilah stopped short to count the number of bread crumbs on the ground and then the number of pigeons that were eating. She was about to estimate how long it would be before—

"Miss Heywood? Oh—Delilah!"

The sound of her name being called snapped the girl out of her calculations, and she turned to see Mr. and Mrs. Field wave at her from the side of the street. They weren't alone, however—the two most peculiar people were beside them. The taller man was bald aside for a curl of blonde hair on his forehead, accentuated by a mustache of the same color. The short teenager was blonde as well, although his hair was a darker shade and tied back into a braid. He wore a flashy red overcoat and white gloves. On the ground beside them was a wooden crate with what appeared to be a broken suit of armor strapped down inside, presumably so that it wouldn't jostle around.

Too late, Delilah realized she was staring, and she walked over, pretending that she hadn't blundered in the first place. "Yes?" she asked in her usual detached tone.

"These people are looking for Dr. Mauro. You have the time to show them the way there, right?"

Delilah nearly didn't catch the words; the unexpected scent of sheep had distracted her. She forced herself to nod. "Of course I can. I was on my way there already." She waited for the Fields to politely leave before she once more forced her mind off the subject of sheep and turned to the travelers (at least, that's what she assumed they were, as she had never seen them before in her life). Remembering her manners, she bowed her head slightly and greeted them (though she still forgot to put much effort into her voice). "My name is Delilah Heywood. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The teenager waved a hand. "Edward Elric," he stated shortly (not because he was short, it was simply his tone of voice).

The man introduced himself with far more charisma. "And I am Major Alex Louis Armstrong, the 'Strongarm Alchemist'!" To prove his identity, he flexed the muscles of his suddenly bare arms and chest, much to the chagrin of Edward.

"Major…"

"Major Armstrong…would you mind putting your shirt back on?" the armor in the box asked, his voice echoing slightly.

Delilah blinked slowly and turned slightly to study the armor, causing said armor to jerk in nervousness. Edward also seemed startled, but the girl ignored him and leaned over to investigate the details of the helmet, noticing the red glowing eyes and the fact that someone would have had to be _really _small in order to hide from her sight in the broken armor. She had no idea how it was possible, but the armor appeared to be possessed by a soul—a young boy, by the sound of it. However, one question stuck out in her mind. She cocked her head and spoke in her small voice, although curiosity was prevalent in her tone.

"Are you aware that you smell like sheep?"

The armor jerked indignantly. "It's not _my _fault I got put in the livestock car!"

Edward ran a hand through his bangs and grinned, slightly nervously. "This is my brother, Alphonse. Uh, long story, you don't wanna hear it."

Delilah looked at the armor—Alphonse—for another moment before she straightened up and shook her head. "I would not mind hearing a story."

"Hey, aren't we supposed to go see Dr. Marcoh—er, Mauro?" Edward said hurriedly.

"Oh." This distracted Delilah from the mystery of the soul in the armor, but not necessarily from trying to figure out how long the armor-boy must have been in the livestock car in order to reek so strongly of sheep. "I was on my way to meet him for lunch. I shall take you with me, then?"

Without waiting for an answer, Delilah turned around and walked along the road. Edward hurried to catch up with her while the Major (now fully-clothed) effortlessly picked up Alphonse's crate and followed.

"Those people said that you were Dr. Mauro's assistant," the Major stated, hesitating slightly on the name. "Are you a healing alchemist as well?"

Delilah tried to forget about the sheep smell and put a finger up to her chin. Her light blue eyes appeared blank, but she was simply remembering all of the transmutation circles that Dr. Mauro had been teaching her. "I understand the theory quite well, as he puts it. It is not hard to memorize the transmutation circles, but I have difficulty executing the act of alchemy itself. I am able to heal small cuts, but not much else. I can perform a bit of other alchemy, but nothing as impressive as Dr. Mauro."

Edward frowned. "How old are you?"

"I am unaware of my birthday, but I am about fourteen."

"I'm fourteen, too!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Anyway," Edward said, ignoring his brother, "you said Dr. Mauro teaches you this?"

"Yes."

"What's Dr. Mauro like, Delilah?" Alphonse asked from his crate.

"He is a good man. When he came to our town he helped the people with his alchemy and became the town doctor. He even took me in off the street and cured my mental illness and gave me a job as his assistant. He even allows me to live with him."

"Mental illness?" the Major repeated.

"I was not able to speak correctly and I had difficulty functioning and learning," Delilah explained with airy ease. "My parents abandoned me. I do not remember those days very well, however. But Dr. Mauro says that as a result of his alchemy, my brain is sharper than average now. I tend to remember most things I read or am told."

A surprised look flashed across Edward's face, and then it was replaced by a challenging grin. "Oh, really? …What elements are liquid at room temperature?"

"Bromine and mercury."

"Lucky guess," he conceded. "Okay, how much salt is in the average adult?"

"Two-hundred and fifty grams."

"Brother, stop trying to make yourself sound smarter than her," Alphonse scolded.

"But I'm not—"

"Huh." Delilah spoke over Edward and stopped short. The Major nearly ran into her from behind. She looked around the town square, a small frown adorning her otherwise blank face. "Dr. Mauro should have been here already."

"We caught a glimpse of him earlier," the Major admitted. "He rushed off in a hurry, though. Maybe he went home?"

The frown remained on Delilah's face, but she admitted to herself that it was plausible that Dr. Mauro had gone home. Perhaps he had forgotten something. "I shall lead you there, then," she said before heading off toward home.

This time, Edward hung back to speak quietly to the Major. Delilah would've listened (they still were within her hearing range), but she was distracted by a stray dog at the edge of the street. She stared to drift toward it, but when it ducked down an alley, she remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. She blinked slowly, then continued to lead the group toward her home.

Before long, they ascended the steps that led to the front door of the homely abode. Delilah knocked once to announce her presence like she always did, and then opened the door.

"Dr. Mauro, there are people here to see—"

Her announcement was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. Delilah froze and Edward screamed, jumping out of the line of fire.

"What did you come here for?" Dr. Mauro demanded, his face twisted in fear as he held up his smoking gun. "Did you come to take me back? Are you using her as a hostage?"

"Please calm down, doctor," the Major said, holding up a hand.

"I'll never go back to that place! Never!"

"No, that's not it. Please listen…"

"So you came to _kill _me and shut me up for good?"

"Please lower your gun, sir…"

"You can't fool me!"

"I _said, _please calm down!" the Major shouted, throwing Alphonse and his crate at Dr. Mauro. Dr. Mauro fell backward, his gun falling to the ground with a clatter. The Major quickly picked up the gun and unloaded it while Edward scrambled over to stand Alphonse's crate upright ("Al! Hey, Al! You all right?").

"Dr. Marcoh, we only want to talk," the Major stated. "We're not here to hurt you or your assistant. We may be military, but we weren't sent here."

Delilah stared at the scene in disbelief, for once focused completely on the situation at hand. "…'Marcoh'?" she repeated in confusion. She blinked and stared at the man whom had sheltered her for years. Dr. Mauro would never shoot at anyone. Every once in a while he would seem tense, but she had never seen the man like this before. And why had the Major called him "Marcoh"?

Dr. Mauro looked up at them all for a moment before he sighed. "…I'll talk with you."

* * *

_a/n: First off, this is my first FMA fic. Ever. Though I've seen both series in the past three or four weeks, I haven't read many fics in this series, and I'm not 100% familiar with this series. That being said, this series freaking rocks, and all I want to do is completely surround myself with it because it's so wonderful._

_Anyway, this fic is experimental, in a way. I have no clue about the plot for this, so I sort of decided to do an OC insert, but honestly it could go any which way. The pairing will always be AlxOC, though (among EdxWin, Royai, etc.). Usually, I like to have chapters be 3k+, but I may decide to do less for this fic._

_Feedback will be very, very appreciated (OC flames will not be, though). Thank you for taking the time to read this far._

_-Rose_


	2. Chapter 2

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own my own OCs and this fic. Have a nice day._

* * *

Two

When the group had gathered around the table, Delilah noticed that Dr. Mauro—Marcoh?—had skinned his palm when he had fallen to the floor. Hesitantly, Delilah took his hand and grabbed a piece of chalk from her dress pocket, drawing a small transmutation circle on the table before she healed his hand. Once she was done, she cleaned up the chalk with her hands and wiped them on her dress, which was already white to begin with.

"Now, Dr. Marcoh, would you mind explaining some things to us?" Major Armstrong prompted.

The doctor was silent for a moment. "I couldn't stand it anymore. Having to obey their orders, dirtying my hands to research those things, and then seeing it used in the Ishvalan Civil War. So many people died in that awful war….

"I couldn't make up for my actions if I paid for them for the rest of my life. But I still try to do what I can here as Dr. Mauro."

There was a heavy silence before Delilah quietly spoke up. "Were you ever going to tell me your real name?"

Marcoh had looked pained throughout the entire conversation so far, but at this he grimaced even more. "…When you were older," he said. Usually, Delilah had a terrible read on other people, but his words sounded somewhat hollow.

She nodded mutely, feeling betrayed by the fact that she had been apprenticed to a man whom had been lying to her for years.

Before the silence could stretch on for long, the Major spoke up. "What were you researching before you left? What did you take with you?"

Marcoh paused and put a hand to his forehead. "I was making the Philosopher's Stone. I took it and the research data with me."

Delilah frowned, remembering a passage out of one of the alchemy books that Dr. Mauro—_Marcoh_— had given her. According to the book, the Stone was a mythical substance that could bypass the laws of equivalent exchange. She remembered trying to ask Marcoh about it, but he had always changed the subject. Well, now she knew why.

But it always did confuse her, how something directly related to alchemy could bypass the laws of equivalent exchange….

"You really have it?" Edward exclaimed as Marcoh went to retrieve a bottle of red fluid from the depths of the medicine cabinet. "Hey—if it's the 'Stone,' why is it a liquid?"

In response, Marcoh pulled the stopper out of the vial and poured the contents onto the table, where the liquid took a wobbly, round shape, looking almost as if it were solid. Delilah and the Major peered at it while Edward poked it.

"The Stone has several names. It isn't surprising that it might not be a stone at all," Marcoh explained. "But this is experimental," he continued as he put the Stone back in its container. "It's an imperfect compound, and it's impossible to know when it will reach its limits and cease to work. Even so, these compounds were used secretly throughout the civil war and were successful. I only use this one here in case I have a patient that I can't treat by normal means."

Understanding clicked in Delilah's mind. "You used that on me," she stated. She sounded uninterested, but in reality, Marcoh's secrets were affecting her greatly. She felt as if her mind would never stop racing with the information that was being presented to her.

"It may be imperfect," Edward began, not giving Marcoh time to respond to the girl, "but the fact that you made it means that it must be possible to make the perfect Stone someday, right?" He suddenly slapped the table with his left arm, and Delilah finally noticed that his right one was missing. This information felt so irrelevant to the thoughts running in her mind; the distraction made her feel relieved.

"Dr. Marcoh!" Edward pleaded. "Please show me your data!"

Marcoh gave a start. "What? What would you do with such a thing?" He turned to the Major. "Who _is _this child?"

"A State Alchemist."

"This _boy?" _Marcoh put a hand to his forehead once more and began muttering. Delilah noticed that he was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. "He has a state license at his age? He must've been lured by the promise of privilege and research money…. How foolish!" His voice rose in volume. "Do you know how many alchemists threw away their licenses after the war? I wasn't the only one who hated himself for being used as a weapon, but you still—"

"I know it was foolish, but I _had _to!" Edward yelled, causing everyone to jump a little. He took a breath and looked down at the table. "I have to get the Stone so Al and I can get our original bodies back," he admitted. "…We tried to transmute our mother back from the dead. I lost my leg, Al lost his body, and I had to give my arm to get him back."

There was a moment of silence. Delilah's mind swirled with the information, imagining how it must have felt, how it must have happened, and how they thought they could get their bodies back. She looked over to Alphonse. Even though he was steel, he seemed downcast, his red eyes drooping slightly. Seeing this made her face wilt as well.

_Being lied to is one thing, but what is it like to lose one's body? _she wondered. She looked down at her lap and frowned somberly.

"So, you committed the ultimate sin," Marcoh noted. "I'm surprised you were able to transmute a soul. If you have that kind of talent, you might even be able to create a complete Philosopher's Stone. But, I cannot allow you to see my data!"

Edward, who had begun to look hopeful, gritted his teeth. "But why not?"

"I've said everything I'm going to say." Marcoh stood and walked away from the table, as if he couldn't look at them all anymore. "Getting your original body back… The Stone couldn't be used for something so trite."

"_Trite?" _Edward exploded, rising to his feet in anger.

Marcoh ignored him. "No one will ever see my research. It's the work of the devil. It can only lead straight to hell."

"I've already _seen _hell!" Ed yelled at him, causing Marcoh to jerk at the noise.

"…No," the doctor said finally. "Please go."

Edward leaned with his one arm against the table for a moment, his muscles tense. Without warning, he lurched away from the table and stalked toward the door before wrenching it open and leaving.

"Brother!" Alphonse called, but Ed was already too far away to hear him. The armor-boy sighed.

The Major stood. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Dr. Marcoh. Thank you for your help, miss." With that, he picked up Alphonse's crate and began to leave.

"Thank you, Dr. Marcoh," Alphonse said as they left. "It was nice to meet you, Delilah."

As they passed her, Delilah caught a whiff of the sheep scent that still clung to Alphonse's armor. The smell cut through her thoughts of the lies and dark secrets, and she suddenly became more aware of herself and the situation.

"Oh…," she breathed. She stood and followed them out the door, only to find that the Major and Alphonse were already down the steps, and that Edward was already a reddish speck in the distance. "Good luck!" she said, raising her voice only as loud as she had to for the Major and Alphonse to hear her.

The Major stopped and turned to wave at her politely, while Alphonse paused for a beat before calling out in surprise. "Thank you!"

Delilah watched them leave, but her thoughts were already distracting her. She wandered back into the house, not paying attention to her surroundings.

_What could it be like to lose my limbs, or my body? Would Dr. Mau…Marcoh ever have told me about himself? How can the Philosopher's Stone bypass the laws of equivalent exchange if all alchemy is supposed to follow it? Those boys must have really missed their mother to try to perform taboo…. Will they ever get their bodies back? If Edward lost both his arm and leg, how is he walking—automail? Then why does he only have one arm? Does it have anything to do with why Alphonse is in that crate, all broken up? I wonder…_

"…you ever going to listen to me, Delilah?" Marcoh sighed.

Delilah raised her head, becoming aware again, and looked at the man she thought she had known. "I do not know what to think about you."

Marcoh ran a hand through his hair, looking utterly tired. He was already an old man, but he seemed to have aged a decade in an afternoon. "…You have every right to be angry if you want to be." He paused. "Do you still trust me?"

Delilah calculated. "Eighty percent."

The man smiled grimly at her honest answer. "…What do you think about those boys?"

She didn't even need to consider the question. She could learn so much from books, but those two were a challenge, a wealth of information not easily gained. Not only that, but they had been the first who hadn't looked at her as if she was still sick. "I want to know more."

"And by that you mean everything," Marcoh guessed. He was correct, so she nodded.

He paused, his brow furrowed. "…They'll probably get themselves killed…. But…" He was silent for a moment, then came closer to her. "Listen to me, okay? If you're a doctor like me, you want to help them, right?"

Delilah considered the question for a few seconds. "Yes."

He ran a hand through his hair once again. "Perhaps it would be good if you learned your social skills from others…. And it might be good for you to leave for a while," he muttered. "What if you go with them to Central and help them to decipher my research? And when you're finished, you can call and we'll arrange for you to come home, okay?"

Delilah blinked slowly, considering the options. "…That seems logical. Okay."

"Go pack, and hurry," Marcoh instructed, shifting from serious to rushed. He hurried over to the counter to retrieve a piece of paper and a pen before he began to scribble something down before shoving the paper in an envelope.

Delilah went to her dresser and grabbed her dresses and other clothes, as well as a few other travel necessities and her medicine. When Marcoh saw that she wasn't ready when he was, he grabbed her briefcase and emptied it of the patient files before he hurriedly helped shove her belongings inside. Once they were packed, he slammed the case shut and unceremoniously handed it to her. (Some parts of her clothes poked out, and she briefly wondered long it would take for them to get dirty before she had a chance to fix that problem.)

Finished, Marcoh practically dragged her out the door, and they rushed to the train station. Delilah wasn't completely out of shape, but as she didn't usually have to rush at top speed to catch up to a boy with only one flesh leg and another with no usable body at the moment, she was out of breath when they came to the station. Marcoh paid for a ticket and they went onto the platform.

It was an easy feat to find the travelers—they were the only other people on the platform. The Major and Edward were sitting on one of the few benches, and Alphonse was on the ground beside them.

"Hey!" Marcoh shouted, hurrying over while Delilah followed closely. He held out an envelope to Edward, who stood. "This is the place where I hid my data. If you can look the truth in the face, then do it. Then you might be able to reach the truth that lies _within _the truth."

Edward's face scrunched up in confusion, and Marcoh simply shook his head.

"I've said too much already. Anyway, my notes may be…difficult to decipher. If it's no problem, I recommend that you bring Delilah with you; I highly doubt she won't be able to help you. Though…you might have to keep an eye on her, she tends to wander."

Delilah had no idea whether to take that comment seriously or not, so she let it drop (although she frowned slightly, as it was a bit true).

Ed gave a start. "_What!_ Al and I don't have time to babysit her! We have our own stuff to do!"

"Brother!" Al scolded in exasperation.

Major Armstrong hit Edward lightly in the shoulder with the back of his hand. "Mr. Elric! How impolite! The doctor has kindly offered you the help of his lovely young assistant, and you speak this way! You should apologize!"

"_Apologize?_" Edward sputtered.

Very suddenly, the Major loomed over the young alchemist, his muscles gleaming in the sunlight. "Yes. _Apologize._"

Edward sweated nervously, then turned to Marcoh and Delilah. "S-sorry. You know…it _might _be okay for her to come," he grumbled.

The Major smiled, suddenly back to normal (as normal as such a man could be). "Was that so hard?"

"Now, it's just until you're finished with my research," Marcoh explained. "Once that's over, she'll call here, and we'll arrange for her to come back. She shouldn't be with you for too long. But take care of her."

"Don't worry, doctor!" Alphonse called from his box. "We won't let anything happen to Delilah."

Marcoh smiled. "Good." He turned to Delilah. "Take care, okay?"

Delilah nodded. Even though this man had lied to her and the town, a pang of sadness hit her. She knew it would be a good thing to be away from him for a little while to better deal with the situation, but she would miss him. "You as well, doctor."

With that done, Marcoh began to walk away. He raised a hand in farewell. "I'll pray for the day that you two can return to your original bodies."

Edward and the Major stood stunned for a moment before Ed bowed respectfully and the Major saluted.

Though Delilah was quite the thinker, she never considered the possibility that she wouldn't see Marcoh for a long, long time.

* * *

_a/n: Well, there you have it! Chapter two. This was updated quite quickly for me, huh. Usually I can go forever between updates. Must be because this story is new. XD;;_

_Yeah, I felt we had to slog through some stuff in this chapter, because you all know this stuff about Marcoh's research and whatnot. But yeah, this is probably just an OC-insert. I told myself I would try hard not to do another one of these...oh well. XD_

_As a side-note, I'm taking quotes/scenes from the VIZ translation of the manga. I have 9 volumes, so that should last me until the next 3-in-1 volumes come out, but if not I'll just go read a scanned one._

_Have a good day! And don't forget to drop a review on your way out~ (Seriously, it doesn't take long.)_

_-Rose_


	3. Chapter 3

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, I only own my own OCs and this particular fic._

* * *

Three

Edward pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope. "'National Central Library, first branch,'" he read.

"I see," the Major noted. "It's like that saying, 'if you want to hide a tree, place it in a forest.' Their book collection is beyond compare, there must be millions of volumes."

"I hope we can find it," Delilah breathed.

"Oh, we'll find it," Ed said, tightening his grip on the paper. "Won't we, Al?"

"Of course, Brother! But first, we have to go get you a new arm from Winry," he teased.

Ed blushed, but it was quickly replaced by the look of a doomed man. "….When we get to Resembool, she's going to kill me…."

()()()()()

After they put Alphonse in the luggage car ("You will _not _put my brother in the livestock car again! What if the sheep try to piss on him or something?"), the Major led them to the neighboring passenger car. The seats were spotted with people here and there, but it wasn't crowded. The last few booths were free, so they sat at the far end. The Major took up a whole seat to himself and Ed took the window side across from him. Delilah took the down time before the train departed to put her briefcase up on the luggage rack beside the men's bags and sat in the free space beside Edward.

She studied the small area they were in before slowly turning to inspect the rest of the car. The seats were wooden and straight, with only a small cushion on each, so they weren't very comfortable. The other people on the train appeared uninteresting, mostly men but also a couple of women and children. Since it was pretty late, it was mostly quiet.

"What're you staring at?" Ed asked.

"The car. It is interesting."

Ed frowned. "What? You ever been on a train before?"

"No, but I have read about how they work. The burning coal boils the water, creating steam pressure—"

Edward ignored her latter words and interrupted her. "Never been on a train before? Really?"

"Not everyone travels as much as you and your brother do," the Major pointed out. Ed had to nod at this.

Delilah wasn't annoyed at being spoken over; there wasn't any point in being so. "The doctor said that he did not like to travel." She frowned, finally understanding why. Of course Marcoh didn't want to travel; he could've been caught a lot earlier than he was.

"Well, you'll probably find Central very interesting," the Major commented. "There's lots of places to go and people to see. Central Headquarters is stunning, and the National Central Library is huge."

Delilah's interest was piqued. "Books… But I will not have much time there if all we are doing is researching the Stone…."

Ed shrugged. "That's just how it works out. But we'll have plenty of time to do nothing in Resembool while my mechanic makes me another arm…." A sudden look of nervousness appeared on his face, and he became silent and stared out the window, his muscles tensed. "…She'll kill me," he muttered.

A few minutes later, the train began to move, pulling out of the station and picking up speed. By now, it was pitch black outside, and Ed said they wouldn't get to Resembool until morning.

The Fullmetal Alchemist stretched and got as comfortable as he could, though he was careful not to bump into Delilah. "Well, no point in stayin' up if there's nothing to do. `Night."

"Sleep well," Delilah wished, and the Major echoed her before making himself comfortable as well.

"Will you sleep as well?" he asked. "We may very well have a long day tomorrow."

"I will later," she replied tonelessly. "Thank you for your concern," she added, almost too late.

Major Armstrong nodded, and before long, he and Ed were asleep.

Delilah listened to them for a few minutes, noting how, though they both snored, Ed's breathing was quieter. That fact was most likely due to age, she thought.

"…knitting has also been passed down the Armstrong line for generations…," the Major muttered, his hands twitching.

_Knitting might be a hobby I could take up, _Delilah thought. At the very least, learning how to knit could be both useful and entertaining, at least for a while. Oh, but there was also the fact that she could use alchemy—at least to a certain extent. Perhaps putting more thought into basic alchemy could help her shape things. _Hm…_

Ed's leg jerked, hitting her knee lightly. "Stop hittin' me, Wi'ry…tha' wrench'll kill me…"

Delilah blinked, inching away from him to give him more room. However, as if he sensed there was more space, he shifted, taking up even more of the seat. Realizing that Ed would probably take up all the space despite his size, the girl stood, and sure enough, Edward stretched to take up all of the room.

She stood still for several minutes, feeling the vibrations of the train. She wondered how far away they were from Resembool, and how fast the train was moving. If she knew those things, she could calculate how long it would take until they got there.

"Al," Edward muttered, "save me, Wi'ry's killin' me…"

_I assume that must be his mechanic…or perhaps his girlfriend? …I wonder how Alphonse is doing. Can he even sleep, since he is a suit of armor?_

The thought of sleep reminded Delilah that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to stay awake all night long. She opened her briefcase, not bothering to take it down from the rack, and pulled out her medicine. After quickly consuming her dosage, she put her medicine away (she also tucked the loose clothes into the briefcase) before closing the bag.

The thought of sleeping on the stiff seat wasn't very appealing to her, but she was quickly becoming tired, so she lay on the empty seat across the aisle. Curling her legs up and using her arms as a pillow, she closed her eyes and willed her thoughts to slow. It was always a difficult process, but with the help of her medicine, she was soon asleep. She dreamed of nothing.

()()()()()

"Miss Heywood? Miss Heywood! We're here."

Delilah awoke slowly, noting how the sunlight slanted into the car. She guessed it wasn't too long after sunrise.

She sat up and rubbed away the sleep from her eyes. "Thank you for waking me, Major."

"Not a problem," said the Major. He held out her briefcase. "We should get going."

Delilah nodded and stood, grabbing her bag. She followed the Major out the door, and he told her to wait while he went to go find Edward and Alphonse, who were supposed to be in the luggage car. While she was alone, she inspected the station. It was quite small, and though there was a small congregation of nearby buildings that served as the bulk of the town, the greater part of Resembool was plains. The sight made her wonder how long she would have to walk until she found something at least resembling civilizations.

_…I wonder how far away the doctor is. _Her face fell, and she realized that she was with strangers. Friendly people, good military men, but aside from hearing how Ed and Al tried to preform human transmutation, she knew little about them. Had she made the right decision? She wasn't one to question her choices, but she had never had to before. But then again, she wouldn't be staying with them for too long…

…not to mention the fact that she had no idea how to act around Marcoh now.

And in any case, she was where she was, and there was no changing that.

Before long, Edward and the Major appeared beside her; the Strongarm Alchemist was once again carrying Alphonse's crate.

"…shouldn't take too long to get to the Rockbell's," Ed was telling the Major. "It's just a fifteen-minute walk from here, up that hill."

"Should we stop so you guys can eat first?" Alphonse asked. "Oh, good morning, Delilah. Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Alphonse. I did."

"Nah, Granny Pinako'll cook up something for us," Ed said in response to Al's first question. "Maybe they'll have leftover stew!"

They set off, exiting the station and heading through the town. Ed and Al called out greetings to some of the people they saw, but neither could give a wave, since Al was broken and Ed was using his remaining arm to carry his suitcase. While they walked, Delilah took the time to look all around at the buildings, and after they emerged out onto a wide dirt road, she tried to estimate how long the rock wall at its side was.

"Are we going to your mechanic's house?" she asked.

"Yep! Winry's the best automail mechanic I've ever known," Ed stated.

"Winry," Delilah repeated. "You were muttering about her in your sleep."

Edward's whole body twitched violently, and he spun his head around, his face red. "W-_what_?"

Alphonse suddenly laughed, his voice echoing. "Brother, wait till I tell—"

"YOU'D BETTER SHUT YOUR FACE BEFORE I DECIDE TO THROW YOU IN A LANDFILL!"

"—Winry, she'll probably laugh, especially when you see I told her!" Alphonse continued to chuckle, unfazed by his brother's threat.

"Actually," Delilah said, "it sounded like Winry was trying to kill you, Edward."

Alphonse laughed even more. "Yep, that sounds like Winry!"

Ed pouted. "Why Granny Pinako lets her have a wrench, I'll never know. She could definitely kill me!"

"She sounds like a wonderful girl," the Major commented.

Edward shuddered. "I don't want to know what your definition of 'wonderful' is. Anyway, there's the house up there!" He nodded up toward a cozy two-story house. Delilah was able to make out the sight of a short, old woman standing in the yard. "Hey, Granny Pinako!" Edward yelled. "I'm gonna need your help again!"

The woman—Pinako?—waved, but Delilah was distracted when a four-legged creature (or, rather, a three-legged-and-one-automail-legged-creature) trotted up to them and sniffed at Edward before barking in a friendly way.

"Hey there, Den," Ed chuckled.

"…Doggy," Delilah whispered, drifting up to Den and holding out a hand for him to sniff. The dog licked her hand, and that was all the incentive that Delilah needed to drop to her knees in the middle of the road and start scratching the dog behind the ears. After a moment, Den was distracted by the others and went to go sniff at Alphonse (at this point, the Major had set him down on the ground), leaving Delilah a little lost as to what to do now that such an adorable dog was gone.

"This is Major Armstrong." Edward was introducing the State Alchemist to the short, old woman whom he had called Pinako. "And that's Delilah Heywood. They're traveling with us to Central."

"Pinako Rockbell, pleased to meet you," the woman said kindly, shaking the Major's hand.

"You as well," Delilah said absently, getting up off her knees and trotting over to Alphonse's crate so she could pet Den once more. Den seemed pleased by the attention and wagged his tail.

"I see you like dogs," Alphonse noted lightly while Edward and Pinako started to yell at each other ("WHO'RE YOU CALLING 'SMALL,' YOU HALF-PINT HAG?").

"They are cute and they distract me," Delilah replied without much thought, for her attention was reserved for the canine. She didn't notice that Al was looking at her (she wouldn't have been able to discern his expression anyways). He started to say something, but was interrupted.

"_Hey! _ED!"

_Clonk!_

Edward yelled in pain and fell to the ground, a large bump forming on his forehead from where a wrench had hit him.

Delilah looked to see a pretty blonde girl come out onto the deck of the second story. "How many times do I have to tell you to _call _before you come in for maintenance?"

Ed rushed to sit up, holding his head in pain. "Winry, YOU JERK! You could've _killed _me!"

Winry suddenly laughed good-naturedly. "Welcome back!"

Edward frowned and muttered under his breath.

* * *

_a/n: I haven't updated this quickly in forever, you guys. Maybe it's because you all are awesome at reviewing! Seriously, I have five reviews already. I haven't gotten reviews so quickly since my last OC-insert, for Shaman King. I'd forgotten what it feels like to get a lot of them. *feels like floating on a cloud*_

_I wouldn't necessarily call this chapter a filler, since there's some character going on, but eh, it's not a whole lot of plot, I guess. Dunno. XD Tried to make it as funny as I could! Hope you liked it. And usually I'm the type to write in italics when someone's yelling, but Ed's a loudmouth, so I though, eh, why not._

_Don't forget to leave a review on your way out, whether you wanna tell me you liked it or didn't like it (though flames will be doused with rain and deemed useless). Doesn't take very long~!_

_See you next time~_


	4. Chapter 4

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, I only own my own OCs and this particular fic. Thank you very much._

* * *

Four

After introductions to Winry were made, everyone moved into the Rockbell living room. Pinako went to the adjoining kitchen to prepare coffee and breakfast, while Winry offered for the guests to make themselves comfortable. After setting down Alphonse, the Major excused himself to the bathroom, while Delilah sat on the floor beside Al and tried to get Den to play with her again. Ed shrugged off his coat and accepted a mug of coffee when Pinako came back into the room for a moment.

Winry suddenly noticed that Ed was missing his mechanical arm, and she screamed as he casually sat down and drank from his cup.

"Yeah, sorry," he said between sips. "It got broken."

"What do you mean, 'it got broken'? That was my _masterpiece! _A state-of-the-art prosthetic! GAH! Just let me see the damage so I can fix it and get you out of here!" Winry's screeches caused Den to lie on the floor and cover his ears with his paws.

"Yeah, when I said 'broken,' I meant 'smashed to bits,'" Ed admitted, trying to laugh it off.

Winry swooned. When she regained herself, she smacked Ed with another wrench. "Not only that, but you went and broke Al, too? Just what sort of lifestyle do you two lead?"

Alphonse laughed nervously but didn't answer.

At that moment, Pinako announced breakfast, and everyone gathered in the kitchen to eat. Delilah was sad to leave Den, but her growling stomach convinced her she needed to tend to herself for a while.

The food was delicious; neither Delilah nor Marcoh had been exceptional at cooking (Delilah often forgot altogether that she was cooking and would end up burning everything), so she was pleased at the home-cooked meal. At one end of the table, Major Armstrong and Pinako engaged in their own conversation that Delilah couldn't hear over the loud and boisterous words of the teenagers at her end of the table. Delilah was content to just listen or zone out on her own thoughts, but Winry decided to include her in the chat.

"So, Delilah, right? What're you doing with these two?"

The younger girl had been about to stick some hash browns into her mouth, but she lowered her fork. "I am supposed to help them do research in Central." She figured that telling the whole truth may not be acceptable to the brothers, since they hadn't said much so far.

"Oh." Winry seemed a bit startled at Delilah's quiet, airy voice. "Well, I hope you know what you're getting into. Al can be sweet, but Ed's a handful."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Edward demanded.

Winry ignored him. "What do you like to do?"

"I like to read and learn. And I do enjoy puzzles." She glanced at Den longingly. "…I really like animals. Oh," she exclaimed softly, catching sight of Den's leg. She turned back to Winry. "May I watch you make Edward's arm? I have not studied automail before."

Winry smiled, excited by the mention of the mechanical art. "Sure!"

Ed finished eating first, so Winry sent him off to change into something loose so they could examine him. By the time he returned, breakfast was finished, and Delilah had helped Winry clean up the dishes. Pinako had Ed sit on the couch, and Ed explained that they needed to go research the Philosopher's Stone and were therefore in a hurry.

"It seems that we have to adjust your leg, too," Pinako noted, inspecting Ed's legs.

"So you _have _gotten taller, after all," Winry teased. Ed twitched, but he somehow managed to shake off the jibe.

"How long's it gonna take to make my arm from scratch?" he asked. "A week?"

Pinako huffed on her pipe thoughtfully (Delilah mentally recited all the terrible things smoking could do to one's body, but she said nothing). "Don't underestimate me. I can have it ready for you in three days."

With that said, the old woman took out Ed's leg and replaced it with a much simpler spare. Delilah watched with fascination, doing her best to note how Pinako attached the prosthetic to the metal stump at the end of Ed's flesh thigh.

Ed stood and nearly fell over. "Whoa… Hard to walk on a leg I'm not used to," he noted, touching the wall to help him balance.

Winry ignored him and counted off all the things she had to do. "I have to craft all the parts, assemble everything, check the connections, make adjustments…. This is gonna be all-nighters for sure."

Ed noticed her mutterings. "Sorry about that."

"You wanna get to Central as soon as possible, right?" Winry asked, confident in her abilities. "Let's see what I can do!"

Ed was stunned at her words, but then she jokingly hit him in the shoulder.

"But for a rush job like this, you're gonna have to pay extra….! Oh! I'm sorry, Ed, I forgot you're not used to that leg."

Ed grumbled incoherently from his position on the floor.

()()()()()

As Winry tinkered away at Ed's arm (which was at this point a pile of metal and screws and cables), Delilah sat on a stool beside her and watched. Delilah found it fascinating how Winry sorted through the seemingly confusing pile with ease, measuring out the correct pieces. Delilah was silent the whole time, but after about ten minutes, Winry sighed and put down her tools.

"Delilah," she began apologetically. "Don't get me wrong. You're a lot better company than Ed is, but I can't really work when there's someone looking over my shoulder. It's too distracting."

The younger girl blinked slowly. "Oh. I understand." She herself had never really been bothered if someone was crowding her, but Marcoh had liked his personal space. She stood. "I can leave."

Winry smiled sadly. "I'm really sorry; I know you wanted to learn more about it."

"I can always read about it. It is no trouble," she replied, turning to leave the room.

"Thank you, Delilah," Winry called as she left. "Maybe when I'm working on something that isn't so rushed, I'll teach you about it."

"That sounds nice." With that said, Delilah emerged out into the hallway. She wondered how old the house was, how long the Rockbells had been working with automail, and, most important of all, where had Den gone to?

She wandered through the bottom level of the house, finding Pinako working on Ed's leg, but she left the old woman alone. _Maybe Den is outside, _she realized, so she emerged out onto the porch and looked around. She saw the Major at one end of the property, his muscles gleaming in the hot sun as he chopped firewood with his alchemy (or was he simply using his bare hands?). However, she didn't see Den, so she descended the steps and decided to walk the perimeter of the house. She was so preoccupied with finding the dog that she didn't notice Alphonse leaning up against a barrel until she tripped over his leg and nearly fell flat on her face.

"Oh—are you okay?" Alphonse asked, startled at her sudden appearance. The chickens that had been pecking at him scattered due to the commotion.

Delilah stood up straight. "Yes." She looked around the area, quickly forgetting that she had tripped in the first place. "I am searching for Den. Have you seen him?"

"He went off with Ed, to visit our mom's grave," Al explained.

"You did not want to go with them?"

The armor-boy shifted. "I didn't want to bother the Major."

Delilah frowned and came over to him. "What if someone carries your head for you?" To illustrate her point, she grasped Al's head and pulled it off. At once, Al's red eyes faded from his helmet.

"H-hey!" he stuttered, his voice echoing from within his body. "I can't see out of my head if it's not on my body! Please give it back."

Delilah studied the helmet for a moment before placing it back on his body. Al's red eyes glowed once more. "I apologize," she said. "But you are very interesting."

Al, who had been adjusting his head, paused. "You're not nervous about me being hollow?"

Delilah cocked her head. "Why would I be nervous? You are not scary." When he was silent for a moment, she turned toward the chickens and tried to approach them, but they skittered away from her. She frowned and took a few steps toward them, but they quickly vacated the area.

"They aren't going to come to you if you chase them," Al told her. "They'll only come if you have food, and I can't remember where Pinako keeps that."

"They come to you," she pointed out, beginning to pick up loose bits of straw from around the chicken coop.

"Well, I'm metal, and I don't have to move to breathe or anything. They don't see me as a threat." He paused, watching her for a few seconds. "What are you doing?"

"It is hot," she explained. She stopped moving as a chick crossed her path before hurrying after a hen. Diverted from Alphonse's question, she said, "I wish they would let me pet them…."

"You really like all kinds of animals, don't you?" Al noted. "Oh, didn't you say earlier that they distracted you or something?" he asked, finally getting to the question that he had been meaning to ask.

Delilah nodded. She noticed a bit of straw beside his foot, and she came over to retrieve it before she plopped herself down on the ground and pulled a piece of chalk out of her dress pocket. "I think about a lot of different things, but animals get me to focus on just _them._" Her normally distant voice managed to put emphasis on the last word, but then she became quiet as she drew a transmutation circle in the dirt.

Al inspected her work. Though her lines were in the perfect places, they were a tad shaky, suggesting that she didn't practice drawing as much as one should if one wanted to be a distinguished alchemist. He watched as she put the straw in the center of the completed circle, and she took a breath before she placed her hands on the ground.

Al cocked his head slightly once the light from the transmutation circle faded. "A hat?"

Delilah placed the hat on her head. Its wide brim shielded her face and neck from the sun. "It is hot," she repeated, explaining her actions with that simple sentence.

Alphonse tilted his head back to look up at the sun. He couldn't remember the last time that the bright light had caused his eyes any pain. "I can't feel the heat," he admitted. "I can sort of…_tell _when things touch me, but I can't feel anything."

Delilah reached out and touched his shoulder plate. "You feel hot." She stood. "You wanted to know, yes?"

When Al didn't answer, she used her bare feet to erase her transmutation circle.

()()()()()

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. When lunchtime came around, Edward was still gone and Winry didn't want to be bothered, so Pinako and the Major ate inside while Delilah took her sandwich outside and ate next to Alphonse. She was still trying to keep a watch out for Den.

To pass the time while she ate, Alphonse told her a few stories of his and Edward's adventures when they were kids. There was the time they had fought over Winry's hand in marriage (Al had won, but had promptly been rejected by the girl); the time there was a huge snowfall and Ed and Al used alchemy to create a giant snowman; and the times they had used alchemy to make presents for their mother.

When Delilah was nearly finished with her sandwich, Alphonse stopped her. "Maybe you can get one of the chicks to come over," he said, gesturing to the last bits of bread in her hand.

Delilah tossed a few crumbs toward the chickens, and they immediately came closer, squabbling amongst themselves for the food. The ends of her mouth tipped upward, transforming her usually expressionless face.

* * *

_a/n: I'm serious, guys. It's not natural for me to update this quickly. But...I like it. A lot. And those of you who review seem to like this as well, so I decided to reward you with fluff. Uh, if you could call it that at this early in the game...? Idk. Because love doesn't happen immediately, and I won't let it happen for a while because otherwise it wouldn't be very realistic. BUT YAY. THEIR FIRST REAL CONVERSATION. REJOICE! *throws confetti*_

_It's also really, really hard to convey Al's emotions since he's a suit of armor. I mean, I knew it would be tricky, but holy crap (why can't suits of armor blush in real life or something XD). And Delilah isn't good at reading people in the first place, so I kinda have to shift into Al's POV to show his thoughts and stuff. At later points I'll probably write directly from his POV or something._

_I got three reviews for the last chapter, meaning eight reviews total! Keep them coming, they really help, and I appreciate every single one. Don't be afraid to ask about anything, either, I might just answer you (I like having conversations with people over the internet, not necessarily in real life, though XD). Go ahead and review, it doesn't take long, especially now that FFN has that neat feature where the box is right there~_

_See you next time!_

_EDIT: I went in and fixed a few typos. My bad!_


	5. Chapter 5

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own my own OCs and this fic. _

* * *

Five

Since Winry wasn't going to be using her bed any time soon, she let Delilah sleep in her room rather than have the girl sleep in the patient beds with the Major and the Elric brothers. The mechanic took enough time after dinner to lead the young girl to the bedroom and point out what wasn't okay to touch (the metal bits on the desk) and what was (the books on the shelf, except for the ones in the top row). Then, Winry left to return to making Ed's arm.

In all honesty, Winry's room wasn't much, but Delilah was impressed, as she had never had her own room before. Marcoh's home had been tiny and cheap, with one room serving as everything but the bathroom. Such arrangements had worked out for so long because they were usually making house calls.

After changing into a nightdress, Delilah inspected the books on the shelves. Most were on automail and engineering in general, but there were a few cheesy, girly books as well. She pulled out _A Brief Introduction to Automail _and sat on Winry's bed. The book wasn't very thick, and there were many diagrams and pictures, so she managed to read all of its contents after a few hours. When she was finished, the clock on the wall told her that it was nearly midnight. Though she wanted to read a more in-depth book, she knew that getting her sleep would probably be the best thing to do.

Once she had taken her medicine, Delilah turned off the light and lay down in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. But even with the help of her medicine, her mind raced with all of the information she had just absorbed—or, at least, tried to absorb. Before she fell asleep, she even had the time to wonder about how Marcoh was doing, where Den was, what Pinako might make for breakfast, and how much Ed might complain tomorrow about not being able to do anything fun while Winry was working on his masterpiece of an arm.

Her dreams were once again filled with nothing, but when she awoke, her mind was on automail again—most specifically, she was thinking about the correlations between actual human anatomy and the mechanical prosthetics. However, she was also thinking about the fact that her stomach was just about empty.

She sat up and yawned, looking at the clock to discover that she was hungry for good reason—it was nearly lunchtime. She had missed breakfast.

After dressing in another plain dress (this one identical to the one she had worn yesterday, only pastel blue), she retreated to the upstairs bathroom to relieve herself and make herself presentable. She herself didn't mind how she looked, but several of the women back home had looked at her oddly if she didn't brush her hair out.

Actually, they always looked at her oddly, but she tried not to think about it much.

Pinako was already preparing lunch when Delilah came into the kitchen.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead. Took you a while to get up."

"Sorry. Someone usually has to wake me up if I have somewhere to be. Do you need help?" she asked quietly.

Pinako accepted the offer and pointed to where the dishes were kept, instructing Delilah to set the table. "I came up to get you for breakfast, but you didn't move a muscle. Did you stay up late?"

"I was reading a book on automail. It was an introductory novel."

"Oh? Did you find it interesting?" Pinako asked, turning off the stovetop and pouring the contents of the cooking pot into a large bowl.

"Not as interesting as the books I have read on human health, but I read the entire book. Though most of it was on maintenance and how automail relates to human anatomy." Delilah finished placing the silverware on the table, and Pinako ladled some stew into a bowl.

"Mind taking that up to Winry while I get the boys?" Pinako asked.

"Okay." Delilah took the bowl and a spoon, heading up the stairs to Winry's workroom. When she opened the door, she found the blonde girl sitting at her workbench…sleeping.

Delilah placed the bowl of stew beside Winry and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Winry?"

After a moment, Winry opened her eyes and noticed that she still had an unfinished arm in front of her. She jumped in her seat. "W-what time is it?" she gasped out.

"Nearly noon. Pinako had me bring you lunch."

"O-oh. Thanks." Winry spooned some food into her mouth before she basically attacked the mechanical arm in front of her. Nearly immediately, she seemed to completely forget that Delilah was there, and the young girl watched her with interest before her stomach growled once more, reminding her that lunch was downstairs. Without a word, she left.

"Hey there, Delilah," Alphonse greeted when she came into the kitchen. The Major had placed him at one end of the table, and Ed sat beside him, already halfway finished with his meal. Pinako and the Major were eating at a more leisurely pace.

"Hello," Delilah replied softly, sitting across from Ed at Al's other side and starting to eat.

Ed looked up from his food. "I see you're finally up," he said, his tone coming out a bit harsher than he intended, but Delilah didn't notice, as she was too busy eating.

"Brother! At least sound a little nicer."

"What? She's fine!"

Delilah ignored their little squabble and studied the old cracks in the table as she ate. Once or twice she realized that she was focusing more on the table than her food, and she forced herself to eat faster than her snail's pace. When she was full, she put down her spoon. Incidentally, she finished just after Edward.

The Fullmetal Alchemist eyed her bowl. "You gonna eat that?"

"Brother!" Al scolded. He looked over at Delilah. "There's still nearly half left. Aren't you going to finish?"

Delilah shook her head. "I am finished. I do not eat much."

"But you're tiny and skinny!" Alphonse argued. "Don't you want to grow?"

She shrugged slightly. "But I am full," she said truthfully. She looked toward Edward's direction. "Go ahead."

Without further ado, Edward dug into the remnants of her meal, and Alphonse rolled his red eyes at his brother's actions before he turned to Delilah once more. "You slept though breakfast, though. Shouldn't you be hungry?"

"I was, but not anymore," she answered simply. "Is Den outside?"

Alphonse shifted at the sudden topic change. "I…think so, yeah."

"Is it hot outside?"

Ed answered this time, with a nod, as his mouth was full.

Delilah left the table without another word and hurried up to Winry's room to grab her hat before she went outside, not bothering to put on her shoes. Someone called to her as she left, but she didn't catch the words.

"Den," she called softly, but there was no answer. She searched the perimeter of the house like she had yesterday, but the only sign of the dog was a set of paw prints on the dirt road. Delilah stared at the tracks for a moment, debating if they were fresh or not—she had no way of knowing. Nevertheless, she decided to follow them.

Small things distracted her on her walk. For one, she was grateful for her hat, as it was incredibly hot. The smell of the grasses on the plains was pleasant, and she found herself trying to identify the wildflowers that she saw. Several long minutes passed before anything of interest happened.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Delilah heard the words but didn't register them. It was only when a hand rested on her shoulder that she stopped and looked at the person who was talking to her. "Oh. Hello, Edward."

"Marcoh was right; you do wander," the Fullmetal Alchemist noted. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Den. I am following his tracks." She pointed out the paw prints in the dirt.

Ed suddenly laughed. "Those are from yesterday! Den's back home. We tried to tell you, but you didn't hear us. Let's head back."

As Delilah walked beside him, she recalled something Alphonse had told her yesterday. "You visited your mother's grave, right?"

Edward nodded, becoming serious. "Yeah. I guess you remember what I said about trying to bring her back?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes."

Edward didn't say anything until they were within sight of the Rockbell residence. "We did a stupid thing, Delilah. Don't ever even think of it."

"Of course."

Alphonse was waiting for them, leaning up against a barrel once more. "We were worried you got lost, Delilah. Where'd you go?"

Edward scoffed. "You can't get lost out here, you can see for miles. And she nearly made it all the way _there_."

Delilah was intrigued by the stress of the word, but she said nothing.

"Oh." Alphonse looked toward her once more. "I tried to tell you Den was actually in the house, but you already left."

"I am fine, Alphonse. The walk was nice." She suddenly tipped her head to the side, recalling something she had meant to ask them. "The Philosopher's Stone is supposed to bypass Equivalent Exchange, right?"

The sudden topic change caught both boys off-guard; this part of her…_personality _was difficult to get used to. "Well, yeah," Ed said. "At least, it's rumored to."

"We met a priest in Liore who used a fake Stone, like the one Marcoh had, and he was able to make things out of very little," Al added.

Delilah put a finger on her chin. "I do not understand how alchemy's greatest legend can bypass its most basic law…. What happened to that Stone?"

"It broke," Ed answered, remembering the despair he had felt at the false lead.

"Marcoh said imperfect Stones can break at any time," Alphonse pointed out.

"It must have broken because it used up its power for Equivalent Exchange," Delilah said softly. "It explains why they all wear out."

Edward considered her words. "That makes sense, but we don't know if a perfect Stone is bound by Equivalent Exchange or not."

"One cannot create something out of nothing, so what goes into the Stone must be powerful," Delilah thought aloud. "And then that power is used for Equivalent Exchange…."

"So you're saying that even if we figure out what goes into it, it'll take a lot of time to get all the ingredients?" Alphonse asked.

"Not only that, but the items might be rare," Ed summed up. "But if Marcoh was able to make even imperfect ones, we should be able to, too. While all this thinking is great, we won't be able to figure anything out until we see Marcoh's research."

()()()()()

The rest of the day, and the next, passed by without incident. Life felt very slow in Resembool, even to Delilah. After all, she was used to making house calls with Marcoh, and the closest thing to a medical emergency was when Ed stubbed his toes and swore that he had broken them (an exaggeration, needless to say).

Delilah passed the time by reading more of Winry's books. Since she wasn't familiar with automail, she wasn't able to absorb the information very well, but she took note of the chapters on daily maintenance, like oiling the joins so the metal didn't rust, squeak or wear down. She remembered how Al would squeak sometimes when he moved, and she wondered if the boys were taking care of themselves as well as they should.

Finally, on the third day, Ed was tempted to barge into Winry's workroom and demand she give him his arm, but Alphonse convinced him not to by warning him that Winry had many wrenches at her disposal. This led Ed to mope around outside, waiting impatiently.

The three teenagers waited in the yard, the brothers sitting against the house while Delilah tried to get Den to play with her. The dog at first had been delighted by the near-constant attention during the day, but after three days he had grown exasperated with her, and he would run away from her. Unfortunately for him, Delilah thought this was a game.

"Ed!" Winry called, rushing outside and holding up an automail arm. The eldest Elric needed no further invitation to rush inside the house. As he left, he instructed Delilah to go find the Major and help him gather all of Al's parts.

Delilah forgot about Den for a moment (much to the dog's relief). She had wanted to watch Edward's limbs be reattached to his body, but she decided to do what Ed had asked. She easily found the Major, and while he went and grabbed Alphonse's crate, Delilah found a large tablecloth in the kitchen and came back outside to spread it out near Alphonse. Carefully, the Major dumped the contents of the crate onto the sheet and then moved Al onto the sheet as well.

"Soon I'll be good as new," Al joked.

Delilah knelt down beside the pile of what used to be Alphonse's side. She touched one of the pieces. "What happened to you and Edward?" she asked. Though she sounded distant like she always did, she was very concerned and wished that she had asked sooner.

The Major was silent, and Alphonse hesitated. "…Ed and I get into a lot of fights," was all he said.

At that moment, Edward came rushing out of the house, now fully-limbed. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Al!" he cried, skidding to a stop in front of his brother. "Do we have everything?"

"Yup!" Al replied cheerily, seeming to have put the earlier conversation behind him. "The MPs in East City got them all for me."

"You can fix him now?" the Major asked curiously.

"Yeah, but it's tricky," Ed replied. Carefully, he pulled off Al's helmet. "See that rune right there, on the inside? That's what binds his soul to the armor. If I break that, Al's a goner."

Delilah peered closely at the rune. "It is written in blood," she noted.

"Yup, my blood," Edward replied. Delilah wasn't fazed, but the Major seemed to be thrown for a loop by this.

Ed laughed. "That was a close call, wasn't it Al?"

Alphonse chuckled. "Just a little deeper and it would be all over for me!"

Edward grinned and didn't waste any more time. He clapped his hands and placed them on Al's body, and with a flash of light, Al was whole again.

"Finally!" Alphonse rose to his feet and moved around. "It was so boring not being able to do anything."

Delilah inspected Alphonse's right arm. "You did this all without a transmutation circle…," she whispered, awed.

"It's Brother's special trick," Alphonse explained teasingly.

"You say that like I'm a dog or something," Edward muttered. "C'mon Al, let's spar already."

()()()()()

Delilah spent the rest of the afternoon watching the brothers practice their sparring (the Major also joined in on the brothers' fun, throwing off his shirt and chasing after the boys). Delilah had never seen anyone fight like this before—it was graceful, in a way. Part of her imagined that they were dancing. Edward's style included a bit more jumping, probably due to the fact that he was much lighter than Alphonse. But since Alphonse couldn't take damage or get tired, he held off Edward incredibly well. For a bulky suit of armor, Alphonse was fantastic.

Dinner went by in a blur of laughter and delicious food. Al fed Den (with Delilah trying to sneak scraps to him as well), Edward and Pinako argued about who was shorter, Winry chided Edward about his (lack of) automail maintenance, and Edward ignored her and proclaimed that he was going to take the first train out to Central in the morning, no matter how early it was.

Once dinner was finished, Delilah offered to take Den outside so the dog could take care of his business. She stood outside for a few minutes, waiting for Den and admiring the purple tint in the sky, noticing the stars blinking into existence. She remembered reading about how it was harder to see the stars in Central since there were so many more lights from houses, and she realized that she felt sad about leaving Resembool. Though life was slow here and there wasn't much to do but read and play with Den (her favorite part), Delilah had felt…_different _here. A good sort of different. She didn't know how to describe it.

Once Den was finished with his business, Delilah went back into the house with the dog, and he went off into the kitchen to try and find more food. Delilah heard voices coming from the living room, so she headed that way, but when she got to the door she found the Major standing outside it. He raised a finger to his lips, so Delilah stood still and listened.

Pinako was speaking. "…you guys know better than anyone what it feels like to have a home and then lose it."

"Yup," Alphonse agreed. "That's why I appreciate how you and Winry always welcome us back like we're your real family. Brother does too, even though he doesn't say it." He paused. "At the same time, the reality is that we no longer have the house we were born and raised in. We don't regret burning our house down, but sometimes…we feel this overwhelming sadness.

"Maybe we could get over it if we just had a good cry." He laughed, but his voice sounded hollow, and not just because of his iron body, even though his next words sounded lighthearted—but forced. "But with this body I can't even cry if I wanted to."

"And then there's that idiot who has a body that _can_ cry but won't," Winry commented, and Delilah knew she was talking about Edward. "That idiot really tries so hard to be tough…."

Beside Delilah, the Major wiped away tears with a handkerchief before he quietly guided Delilah away from the door so they wouldn't be found.

Delilah's mind raced with the information. Ed and Al had burned their house down? When? After they had performed human transmutation, no doubt, but why? And earlier, when Edward had said that she had almost made it "there," had he meant the remains of their house? It seemed plausible….

The Major bade her goodnight and left for the patient rooms, leaving Delilah standing there for a moment. The thought of sleeping was far from welcoming at that point (not to mention the fact that she and Winry hadn't decided who would sleep where), so she decided to go outside again.

She leaned up against the house, looking up at the stars again. With each passing minute, more and more appeared. She felt the itch to count them, but she knew it was futile—she had tried once before.

The door beside her opened slowly, and she turned to see Alphonse sneaking outside, trying to move as quietly as possible. When he shut the door behind him, she made herself known.

"Hello, Alphonse."

The armor-boy jumped nearly a foot in the air and spun around to face her. "D-Delilah! Don't scare me like that!"

"Oh." She frowned. "I apologize. I did not mean to startle you."

Alphonse visibly relaxed—as much as a suit of armor could. "It's okay. What're you doing out here?"

"Thinking. I did not feel like sleeping, not yet," she replied softly. "What about you?"

Alphonse paused, and then spoke quietly. "I'm going to go visit Mom." He seemed to think something over for a moment. "Would you like to come with me? I'm sure she'd like company. She would like you, I'm sure."

Delilah tipped her head. "Do you want to see her by yourself?"

"I'm fine if you want to come with me. I don't mind."

Delilah considered the invitation, then nodded. "Okay."

* * *

_a/n: I apologize for any typos there may be. It's about 12:30am right now, so I'm kinda sleepy, but I wanted to upload today since I was nearly finished the chapter. I managed to write a lot more words than the previous chapters, maybe I'll keep with with more words? Idk. It doesn't matter much, I guess._

_...I'm probably going to look at this when I wake up and wonder what the hell I was doing, writing an author note at 12:30am, but I'm having too much fun right now to stop. Haha._

_Anyway, the stuff about the Stone in this chapter; I have no idea if anyone else sees it when they watch FMA, but the Stone really does go by Equivalent Exchange, using the human souls inside it. I don't remember if any of the characters figure this out, though. And maybe I'm just babbling right now? But I figured it out a while ago and talked to one of my tumblr friends about it, and she agreed that the Stone being bound by Equivalent Exchange made sense, and that it meant that the Stone wasn't some "magical cure-all" or something...which it isn't. Wow, I really probably am babbling. I should shut up._

_Anything else I need to say? Uh, yes, they should get to Central next chapter, and fjlaksjdfa;ldfj the end of this chapter made me want to fangirl because lol Al's such a sweetheart. And I really do have a headcanon that he snuck out to visit Trisha's grave before they left, so I decided to go ahead and include that in here. _

_Um, I guess you can review now? I'll appreciate it a lot when I wake up. Hell, I'll appreciate it in my sleep. Even though I got less reviews for the last chapter than for the chapter before that, I'm still really happy that you guys appear to like this. _

_I really need to stop or half my fic will be an author note..._

_Bye, then~!_

_EDIT: Fixed one or two typos._


	6. Chapter 6

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own my own OCs and this particular fic._

* * *

Six

Alphonse led her through the darkness, off the property and onto the road. The moon was a thin crescent and didn't offer much light, but Delilah was always able to make out the glint of his armor body as he walked beside her. His red eyes shone through the shadows.

"I don't think I've been to the cemetery at night before," he admitted.

"Are you afraid of ghosts?" she asked. "They have not been proven to exist, you know."

Alphonse laughed a little. "I don't know. If I can exist like this, I wouldn't be surprised if ghosts existed, too."

"Perhaps we just cannot see them."  
Alphonse shrugged, his joints creaking. "Do you believe in them?"

Delilah considered the question. "I would if I saw one. But they are also just interesting to think of or tell stories about."

There was a moment of silence. "Does that mean you don't believe in gods, since you can't see them?"

"Not any that interfere in human life," Delilah replied. "But I do think there is some sort of afterlife, or maybe reincarnation."

Alphonse nodded. "As alchemists, Brother and I don't believe in God…. But I like to think that Mom's in a good place."

With that said, the boy stopped at a break in the rock wall. Without the clanking sound that accompanied his movement, the silence of the night nearly felt oppressive.

"You can find her in the dark?" Delilah asked.

"Yup." Alphonse led her through the maze of tombstones, confidently taking the shortest route possible to where his mother lay beneath the earth's surface. When he stopped beside a certain headstone, Delilah knelt to the ground in the dry grass and peered at the engraved lettering:

Trisha Elric

1878—1904

"Hi, Mom," Alphonse greeted. "This is Delilah Heywood. She's helping us research the Philosopher's Stone."

Delilah smiled softly at the stone and dipped her head in greeting. "Hello, Mrs. Elric. Alphonse has told me a little about you. From what I heard, you were a nice woman and a wonderful mother."

"She was the best," Al put in. "She would tuck me in every night and sing lullabies for me and Brother, even though sometimes he said he was too old for them."

Delilah continued to look at the letters on the stone. "Were they nice?"

"They were beautiful."

Even she, whom had the worst of social skills, could hear the conviction in Alphonse's voice. He was being completely sincere and his tone rang with nostalgia. The memories of his mother were obviously precious to him.

But that was all Trisha was anymore: someone who existed only in memory. She was a smiling face in the mind's eye, not a physical one.

Still, Delilah felt jealous of Alphonse's memories. But she chose not to dwell on the feeling.

Alphonse began to tell the headstone about his and Edward's adventures. He recounted their time in Liore, their fight against kidnappers on a train, and their stop in Youswell. Delilah was sure that if Alphonse had a throat, it would have been sore with all of his talking.

After what was probably at least the better part of an hour, Alphonse stopped speaking. His armor body began to rattle slightly, and he made small rasping sounds. As he couldn't breathe, this was more human habit than anything, but all the same, he was still trying to cry. And like all times before, he was failing.

Delilah remained still and silent until he calmed.

"…I'm sorry," he said finally. "We should get going. It's late." He reached out a hand to her, and she accepted the assistance and allowed him to help her up. Once she was up, Al let go of her hand and led the way out of the cemetery.

When the two were on the road, Alphonse stopped and turned to her. "You must be tired. Shall we head back?"

"I do not mind what we do. But if I go to sleep, I doubt I would be able to get up in time to catch the train, and Edward would not like that. If you wish to go somewhere else, I will go with you."

Alphonse turned to look up the road. "…Let's go back to the house."

Delilah nodded and walked beside him back down toward the Rockbell residence. "…I heard you talking about your house. If you want, you can go see it," she assured him. "I do not mind."

Alphonse glanced at her. "No, but thanks. I don't need to see it." He paused. "…So, how do you like it here?" he asked, changing the subject rather awkwardly, not that Delilah noticed his tone of voice.

Her expression softened slightly, but she still stared at the road as she walked. "I am not used to this sort of…family environment. I suppose the doctor has served as a father figure for me, but we were always busy with patients. So it is very…different here."

"But it's nice, isn't it?" Alphonse prodded when she paused. "To have so many people around, laughing and helping each other."

"It is," she agreed after a moment. "Though it is a bit…different, like I said. Hard to get used to. To be honest, I…" She trailed off.

Al noticed her hesitation. "You can tell me, if you want. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Delilah simply walked for a moment, weighing her options before she shook her head. "…Thank you. But not now."

"All right. That's fine."

"But…I have told you a bit already, have I not?"

Alphonse didn't reply, an action which was an answer in itself. He had been too busy worrying about Marcoh's research to seriously think about what she had told them when they had first met her—that she had been mentally disabled, and that she had been abandoned up until the time Marcoh had healed her with his Stone. He could somewhat relate to the neglect, as he hadn't seen his father for years, but he had the "comfort," per se, to know what had happened to his mother. However, he had no idea how it felt to have any sort of illness or debility, other than the limitations of his own body, which didn't quite count as a "sickness"; but all the same, he _did _know how it felt to be viewed differently.

They didn't speak until they got back to the house. Alphonse told her that he was going to check up on Edward and hurried off (while trying to be as quiet as possible).

Delilah wandered into the kitchen to check the clock on the wall. She was surprised to see that it was nearly two in the morning. Sunrise would probably come around four or five, and the train was supposed to leave at 5:15, so Delilah saw no point in sleeping.

Her attention was drawn to the small table and corkboard beneath the clock, both of which were covered with pictures. Though she had noticed them before, she hadn't taken the time to really inspect them. Several depicted Pinako and Winry together with Den, while a few were of a much younger Pinako (who had been taller back in the day). There was a couple whom she supposed were Winry's late parents—Delilah had, somewhat impolitely, asked where they were, only for Pinako to explain that they had been killed in the Ishvalan War while they had been serving as surgeons. Many of the other pictures were of the young Elric brothers and Trisha.

One snapshot in particular caught Delilah's interest, and she peered at what appeared to be a family portrait of the Elrics. Trisha was smiling sweetly and holding an infant Alphonse—it was hard to imagine him ever being that tiny—while a broad-shouldered man held a grinning Edward. The man's face was blocked by the edge of another picture, however. Delilah was about to move the picture to get a good look at the man when Alphonse returned.

"Are you going to sleep?" he asked. "We have a couple of hours."

Delilah straightened up and shook her head. "We will be on the train all day and night. I will sleep then. I have gone without sleep for longer; I will be fine." She paused in thought. "Perhaps I should go make sure I have everything packed." With that, she ducked past Alphonse into the hallway and headed up the stairs, leaving the armor-boy alone in the kitchen.

()()()()()

Roughly two and a half hours later, the sky was beginning to brighten towards dawn. Delilah, all packed and changed into her white dress and straw hat, stood outside holding her briefcase, watching as Edward trudged sleepily but determinedly down the front steps. He placed his suitcase on the ground and retrieved his gloves from his pocket before sliding them onto his hands. As he did this, the Major and Pinako came out of the house, followed by Den, who bounded over to Alphonse. Immediately, Delilah abandoned her briefcase and joined Al in petting the dog.

"Thanks for everything, Granny!" Ed grinned at the old woman.

"No problem."

Alphonse straightened up. "Where's Winry?"

"She did so many all-nighters that she's still asleep," Pinako explained. "Should I wake her up?"

"Don't bother," Ed scoffed. "If you woke her up she'd just go on and on about automail maintenance."

"I read about the maintenance," Delilah piped up, turning her head around from where she was still petting Den. "I think I might be able to check it for you. Most of it is oiling the joints—oh, and I could check Alphonse's joints as well."

Edward grumbled. "Great. _Another _automail junkie."

"Brother! Be nice."

Ed shrugged. "Whatever. We gotta go, Granny. …Hey, Del, stop petting Den, we have to go."

"Oh." She gave the dog a quick hug and then grabbed her bag and hurried over to the boys and the Major. "…'Del'?"

Ed frowned. "What, never had a nickname before?"

Delilah shook her head.

Before Edward could answer, Pinako called out, "Don't be strangers, you hear? Come back sometime when you feel like some good home cooking."

"Okay, we'll be back," Alphonse replied cheerily.

Edward huffed and began walking down the road, as if he couldn't wait to leave. "Like we'd come all the way to the _boondocks _just for a meal." At the Major's chuckle, he whipped around to face the man. "What's so funny?"

"I just think it's a wonderful thing to have a family and place to come home to."

"Hmph. We just drift from place to place like a couple of tumbleweeds."

"Hey, Ed! Al!"

The voice attracted the boys' attention, as well as Delilah's, to the second-floor porch, where Winry was sleepily leaning on the railing. "See you later," the blonde said, waving a hand.

Ed grunted and scratched his head before turning around and waving a hand in farewell. "Later!" He walked off, Al and the Major following closely. Delilah wasn't expecting the sudden departure, so she had to hurry to catch up.

()()()()()

The next afternoon, they had finally arrived in Central. Delilah was grateful that she wouldn't have to sit on the stiff train seats anymore. She was also excited—she had never been to a city before.

Ed grabbed his suitcase and hurried off the train, the Major following close behind. Delilah moved a bit slower, and Alphonse was nice enough to make sure that she didn't get left behind by herself.

"Hurry up, Al!" Ed called, waiting impatiently for his brother to get off the train.

"You don't have to be in such a rush, Brother," Al scolded as he followed Delilah off the train. "It's not like the library's going to run away."

"Just hurry up! We're finally in Central!" Ed stretched, looking excited to finally be off the train.

Delilah stopped short and looked around at the train station. It was huge—she had never been at a station platform that actually had a roof. A large clock was mounted on one wall, proclaiming that it was three o'clock; the train had arrived right on schedule.

Al prodded her shoulder. "Come on, Delilah." He pointed to where Ed and the Major stood; they had suddenly been accompanied by two uniformed officers, one man with dirty blonde hair and one woman with black hair and a mole under her left eye. As Delilah and Al headed over, both officers saluted to the Major and Ed, and the woman spoke.

"Major Armstrong. We've come here to escort you."

"Thank you, Second Lieutenant Ross," the Major said. "And you as well, Sergeant Brosh."

The male officer—Sergeant Brosh—noticed Alphonse. "And this must be the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

The female officer turned to Alphonse as well. "Maria Ross, sir. It's an honor to meet you."

"And I'm Denny Brosh. I can see where you got your nickname! Very dignified."

"Er, I'm Alphonse. The State Alchemist is my brother, Edward," the armor-boy corrected, pointing over to Ed, who was fuming.

"You mean that little guy over there?" Brosh asked.

"Oh," Delilah breathed. "Edward does not like that."

Before she was even finished speaking, Ed had to be restrained by the Major while the young officers awkwardly apologized.

Once Edward had calmed, the Major let him go. "Well," he said, "I had best head over to Central Command to file my report."

Edward looked all too happy to see him leave. "So this is goodbye? Thanks for your help! Drop me a postcard sometime. Bye-bye!"

The Major suddenly tackled him in a fierce hug. "I WILL MISS YOU AS WELL, MY LAD! Ahh, the good times we shared on the road! _Until we meet again!"_ He let go of Edward (who seemed to not have any breath left after having it squeezed out of him), and spoke to his officers. "Well then, I'll leave him with you."

"What, more bodyguards?" Edward moaned, regaining his senses.

"But of course!" said the Major, finally taking his leave in a hurry.

"According to the reports from Eastern Headquarters, the assassin 'Scar' is still at large," Brosh explained as he led the way outside to a private military car. "Until the situation is resolved, we have been instructed to be your guards."

"We may not be as dependable as the Major, but we are confident in our ability to guard you, so please feel at ease," Ross added.

"Excuse me, but who is 'Scar'?" Delilah asked.

Brosh jumped a foot in the air and spun around to face her. "Who are you?"

Ed and Al both slumped in exasperation. "Guess I can't blame you for not noticing her during all that," Ed muttered.

"Delilah Heywood," the girl introduced herself, bowing slightly, taking care not to let her hat fall off her head.

"She's helping us in our research for a while," Alphonse explained at the officers' questioning looks.

"Pleasure to meet you," Ross said warmly, extending her hand toward Delilah. A bit late, the girl shook it. After the pleasantries were over, Ross grew serious. "Scar, as he is called, has been killing State Alchemists left and right for reasons we believe to be connected to the Ishvalan War, as he appears to be a surviving Ishvalan. He has an X-shaped scar on his forehead. From what I've heard, Scar has already had a run-in with you boys, right?"

Delilah's eyes widened, and for once they also became less cloudy and more focused as she turned to the brothers. "Was that why you two were hurt?"

Ed shrugged with a look of exasperation while Al nodded awkwardly. "It's not like we were killed or anything," Ed pointed out, "so there's no need to worry."

Delilah frowned but didn't object. Behind her, Brosh and Ross exchanged confused looks, but they didn't say anything, either.

After giving instructions to the driver, Brosh opened the door of the private car, and they all piled in. With Al's bulk, it was a tight squeeze, and Delilah ended up between Ross and the door to the car. She knew it had to be better than being stuck between the door and a suit of armor or an automail arm or leg, though, so she didn't complain. Her mind was too busy with thoughts of this "Scar," anyways.

"I guess we're stuck with you," Ed muttered mutinously.

"Don't you mean, 'thank you for your help,' Brother?" Alphonse asked.

"The way you say that…are you the _younger _brother?" Brosh asked.

"Yup."

"But…why do you wear _armor_?"

There was a moment of silence as Ed and Al exchanged a look (even Delilah could feel the tense air). As one, the brothers, sweating nervously, turned to the officers. _"It's a hobby."_

Ross and Brosh turned to each other and hid their mouths behind their hands, although it was no use, as their whispers were loud.

"A hobby? Second Lieutenant, what sort of 'hobby' are they talking about?"

"How should _I _know? Who _are _these kids?"

"HEY, THERE IT IS! I SEE IT!" Edward declared, pointing out the window. Delilah followed his finger to see that they were approaching a large building, the front of which was decorated with thick columns.

Sufficiently distracted, Ross took note of the structure. "Ah, yes. That's the National Central Library. It houses more books than any other library in the nation."

At this, Delilah fantasied about spending the rest of her life in the library. Her heart soared.

"They say it would take more than a hundred lifetimes to read the entire collection of books," Brosh added.

_You can always try, _Delilah thought.

The car stopped, and since Delilah was the only one who could really move due to her size (well, Ed could move too, but he didn't want to admit it), she exited the car first. The officers followed next, and then came Al and Ed.

"The first branch, where you all are headed, is just to the west of here," Ross explained, leading them in that direction. "Research data, historical records, and lists of names were stored there…however…"

Ed and Al stopped dead, and Delilah was so preoccupied with looking at the large library that she walked straight into Al's body, causing his body to resound. Luckily, no one noticed the noise but Alphonse himself, but he was too distracted by the sight in front of him to check on the girl.

Delilah rubbed her head and fixed her hat, coming around beside Al, only to see a terrible, terrible sight: the burnt remains of the first branch of the National Central Library.

"Just yesterday," Ross continued, "the entire collection was incinerated. We haven't completed out investigations, but it appears to have been arson."

* * *

_a/n: AlxDel fluff. Hehehhee. Oh, but angsty fluff. Really angsty. And I nearly cried because Al can't cry. It's so depressing. He really is my favorite character and when he cries I want to cry. *sobs in the corner*_

_Um, can't really have a long author note tonight, it's like 1:20am and if Mom gets up and sees me on the computer I'm afraid she'll take it away from me ;A; Maybe I'm being paranoid. Idk._

_Anyway, yep, Al and Del have a nice long chat, they get to Central, Del discovers Scar's existence, the first branch was burnt, yada yada. Haha, Ross and Brosh are some of my favorite minor characters. They're quite hilarious but dependable._

_Anyway, thanks for the reviews and follows! Don't forget to drop a review on your way out, please! It doesn't have to be long :3_


	7. Chapter 7

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own my own OCs and this particular fic/plotline...well, sort of. I mean, it is based off the manga/Brotherhood. So...yeah. Get on with your lives and keep reading._

* * *

Seven

Brosh took the liberty of knocking on the front door. After several moments, he sighed. "Maybe no one's home?"

Currently, they were at the house of a woman apparently named Sheska. Back at the library, Ed and Al had asked the receptionist about if Marcoh's research notes had somehow survived the fire, but there was no such luck. However, the receptionist had given them the address to the house of Sheska, a woman who had once worked in the first branch. The receptionist had mentioned that Sheska was a bookworm, so Delilah was a bit excited about meeting her. Of course, she wasn't as excited as Ed and Al, since Sheska was their only lead to the Philosopher's Stone at the moment.

"The light's on, so she should be here," Ed said. Without warning, he opened the door, and looked a bit surprised to find it unlocked. "Hello…? W-WHOA, WHAT'S WITH ALL THE BOOKS?"

Delilah peered past the boy to see that the inside of the room was literally jam-packed with piles and piles of books. The only floor space seemed to be small aisles used to get to the front door and the other rooms in the house.

It was her idea of paradise.

She quickly pushed past Ed and hurried up to one of the stacks, checking the spines and discovering that she had stumbled upon a whole plethora of textbooks on human anatomy. Happily, she grabbed the book at the top of the stack and opened it.

Edward sighed and took the book out of her hands. "Del, we gotta look for Sheska first. You can read later."

"But…! Okay," she relented, remembering why they were here.

While they had been talking, the rest of their group had ventured into the maze of books, calling out for Sheska. Delilah and Ed joined in the search, but soon it was over.

"Brother!" Al called, leaping into a pile of books and roughly digging through it. "Did you hear that? Someone's _buried _under there!"

"DIG! DIG!" Edward joined Al in his efforts, and soon they unearthed a bespectacled young woman with mousy brown hair.

Once she was free, the woman profusely apologized to them all. "I accidently tripped over the mountain of books. I thought I was going to _die _under there. Thank you very much!"

Ed sweatdropped. "You're welcome. Anyway, are you Sheska?"

"Yes, I am. Oh, you all can make yourselves comfortable…sorry, I don't really have chairs down here…." She trailed off before picking up again. "As you can tell, I really love books, so when I got a job at the library branch I was ecstatic! But…because I love to read so much, I, uh, was fired because I read too much while on the job. But I need to work hard so I can put my sick mother in a better hospital, but…"

Sheska suddenly started shaking. "I'm no good at anything but reading, so no matter where I go, I can never keep a job!" she all but wailed. "It's true. I'm the most _useless _person in the world! The _scum of society!"_

"Is she really all right…?" Edward muttered. He raised his voice slightly to speak to Sheska. "Uh, I just wanted to ask you one question. Do you know anything about some research documents by Tim Marcoh?"

Sheska considered the question for a moment. "Oh, yes, I remember! His notes were the only handwritten documents among all the printed books. Someone had filed them incorrectly, so I remember them quite well!"

"So it really was in that branch," Edward realized. Promptly, he and Al flopped to the floor. "…And that means the book's ashes now…"

"Thank you for your time," Al said weakly as he and his brother began to drag themselves toward the door.

"Um, so you wanted to read the research notes?" Sheska asked hesitantly.

Edward waved a hand as if to try and stop her from making him feel worse. "Yes, but now we'll never know what was written. That was the only copy."

"I remember what was in them," Sheska offered. "The whole thing."

Ed and Al stopped short before whipping around to face Sheska (the two nearly knocked Delilah over). "HUH?"

"I have a photographic memory," Sheska explained. "All I have to do is read something once and I can recall everything. Every word, every phrase, without error! It will take a while, but would you like me to transcribe them for you?"

And so, the deal was struck. Quite enthusiastically, too.

()()()()()

It was definitely going to take Sheska a while to write everything down, from what she said. Ed grumbled about having to wait, but Al shushed him and suggested they find some entertainment for the time being. Delilah agreed with the idea, bringing up the fact that she had never been to a city before, never mind the capital of Amestris.

Ed finally relented, so they first went to check into a hotel. He snapped irritably at the Ross and Brosh about how he wasn't going to pay for their room.

"Brother, they're only doing their jobs. And you have more than enough money to pay for three rooms."

Delilah tipped her head. "Three?"

"Don't you want your own room?" Ed asked, still cross at having to be "babysat."

"I do not mind sharing. The doctor's house has only two rooms, and one is a bathroom. I am used to it."

"Brosh and I can take turns sleeping in her room," Ross offered. "And we'll pay for half," she added in exasperation at Ed's look.

Edward couldn't find an argument against this, so he went to book the rooms (Al assured the officers that he would get Ed to fully pay for both rooms, and Brosh looked relieved). Once they had checked in and put away their belongings, they emerged out onto the sidewalk.

"Do you want to go anywhere specific, Delilah?" Al offered.

"If you guys haven't noticed, it's nearly time for dinner. It's actually past that," Ed interjected. As if on cue, Delilah's stomach growled, as did Brosh's.

"Oh, let's get pasta," Brosh urged. "I've been starving. There's a place just down the street."

Ross rolled her eyes, but when everyone agreed, she and the sergeant led them all down to a restaurant that was indeed only a couple of blocks away. Ed requested a table outside to accommodate for Al's bulk, and soon everyone was eating. (Even Alphonse was throwing some bread down his throat, so as to pretend he wasn't actually a stomach-less suit of armor. He didn't order anything because he hated to have Ed pay for something they didn't need, so Delilah offered him a share of her food. It wasn't as if she was going to eat it all, anyway.)

It had been an eventful day, so they decided to call it a night and check on Sheska after breakfast the next day.

But when Delilah lay down in her bed for the evening, she recalled what had been said about Scar, and she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to remember to take her medicine. Before she knew it, it was morning.

()()()()()

Al didn't want to bother Sheska, as he knew she wouldn't be done, and he was right. Ed still wasn't in the best of moods because of it, and he sighed as they left Sheska's house.

"Well, what're we gonna do today?" Brosh asked. Personally, he wanted to head to lunch already, even though they had just had breakfast.

"Do you wanna look around?" Al asked Delilah. "We could give you a tour of somewhere."

"I do have to write out a report for Colonel Bastard," Ed muttered. "I can do that at Central Command and send it to him while you guys look around."

"Brosh will have to stay with you," said Ross.

"I don't wanna sit around and help with paper—that's fine," the sergeant amended quickly, noting his partner's look.

It was a bit of a walk to Central Command, so Brosh called for their private car, which they had left at the hotel. With all five of them squeezing into the car, there was little room to even breathe. As small as Delilah was, she was tempted to open Al's chest plate and crawl inside, though she couldn't let Ross and Brosh know that he was hollow. But she was sure that it would be more comfortable inside Alphonse instead of being squashed up against Ross like she was.

Central Command was an impressive sight—Delilah had never seen such a huge building. On all sides, it was surrounded by tall walls, and each one was nearly a mile long. In one corner was an estate that belonged to the Fuhrer and his family, as Ross explained. Lots of space served as an open courtyard that led up to Command. Many men and women in uniform walked to and fro, some taking their time while others scurried. Delilah was fascinated.

The inside of the building was spacious and nearly spotless. The floors were so polished that Delilah could see her reflection in them.

"Without me with you, you can't go too far," Ed warned. "Not that there's a whole lot to see. Most of the stuff, if it's any interesting, is behind locked doors or in restricted hallways. Even I can't go everywhere," he grumbled. "Anyway, I'll meet up with you later."

Ross looked at Brosh expectantly, but Ed was halfway down the hall before the sergeant realized himself and hurried after the boy.

()()()()()

"To be honest," Ross said as she led them through the hallways, "there really isn't that much to see here. Almost everything has to do with paperwork."

"There's still the Hall of Fuhrers," Al pointed out. "That's an interesting place."

"Is Fuhrer Bradley there?" Delilah asked. She had no idea what the Fuhrer did all day; she wasn't well-versed in politics.

Ross chuckled. "I highly doubt that, Delilah. The Fuhrer is a busy man, what with running the country and all. He wouldn't be looking at paintings of long-dead men."

()()()()()

"Why hello, there," an aged man greeted them. The man wore an eye patch, and he sported a straight, black mustache.

He was also surrounded by a multitude of guards.

"F-Fuhrer Bradley, sir!" Ross straightened and stiffly saluted. Startled, Alphonse hesitated before snapping to attention and bowing. Belatedly, Delilah realized herself, and she took off her hat to show her respect before bowing as well.

"At ease, you three," the Fuhrer said warmly, abandoning where he stood at the foot of the last Fuhrer's portrait to approach them. "Second Lieutenant Ross," he greeted the woman. "And if I'm not mistaken, you must be Alphonse Elric, brother of the Fullmetal alchemist. And you are?" He turned to Delilah and smiled.

"Delilah Heywood," she replied automatically. Ross grunted quietly, and after a moment the young girl added, "Sir."

"And what brings you here today?"

"Sergeant Brosh and I have been assigned to act as Fullmetal's bodyguards until Scar has been apprehended, sir," Ross replied. "Fullmetal has to file a report for Colonel Mustang, so Brosh is with him while am I watching these two."

"Delilah has never been to Central before, so we thought we'd give her a tour, sir," Alphonse added.

Bradley smiled. "How are you enjoying the city so far, Miss Heywood? Has it lived up to your expectations?"

"Yes…sir. Central Command is very beautiful and impressive. And your house appears to be very beautiful, too."

"Well, my wife certainly does enjoy tending the garden." Bradley laughed. "Unfortunately, she's visiting family, and my son, Selim, is at school. I'm sure they would have loved to meet you and the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Excuse me, sir," one of the Fuhrer's bodyguards interjected, "but you have a meeting with the Senior Staff in ten minutes."

"My, how time flies," Bradley said. "My apologies for leaving in such a rush. It was a pleasure to meet you. Tell your brother I said hello, Alphonse."

With that, he left, followed closely by his bodyguards. The trio stiffened back into their postures of respect as he departed.

Ross didn't relax from her salute until the last bodyguard was out of sight. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I wasn't expecting that."

"Me neither," said Al. "He seemed like a nice man, though."

"I wonder why he wears that eye patch," Delilah said. "An alchemic doctor might be able to heal his eye if it is injured."

Ross shrugged. "There are lots of rumors about it, but no one can say for sure. Though he has said he likes wearing it."

Alphonse shrugged. "Oh, Delilah, I guess you were right; he _was _here." He laughed a little.

()()()()()

When they were finished with the tour, they met up with Ed and Brosh at the front steps of the building. Both boys looked incredibly bored.

"Finally!" Ed called when he caught sight of them. "Took you long enough."

"Brother! We meet the Fuhrer," Alphonse told him excitedly.

Brosh blinked. "Really?

Delilah nodded. "He seems to be a very nice man."

"He said to say 'hello,'" Al added to Ed. The golden-haired boy looked puzzled.

"Weird that you come across him now, when you were touring for the first time, Del," he noted. "I guess it's neat that you got to meet him. But Anyway, I wanted to head over to the library to scope out some books we might need if we have to cross-reference Marcoh's notes."

With that, the group headed out.

()()()()()

Two days later, Sheska still hadn't finished transcribing Marcoh's notes. In that time, the group had wandered around the city and generally wasted time, though Delilah enjoyed herself. It was fun to see all the interesting places in the city, especially when Ed and Al commented on anything and everything. Normally, Delilah was terrible at keeping up with a conversation, but there was something about the Elric brothers that made her feel comfortable and a bit more talkative and attentive. She felt different, but in a good way.

However, those days weren't all smiles for her. At night, she couldn't sleep a wink—her thoughts were too full for her to remember that she needed to take her medicine in order to go to sleep. Yet, she stayed still and silent, so Ross and Brosh, when they took turns sleeping, had no idea that she was still awake. It wasn't that she didn't want to worry them or keep them up; she simply forgot they were there.

First, he mind would recount the day's events and wonder about the next day. Seemingly random thoughts would play in her head, but they always led her back to the same people: Edward and Alphonse. At these times, she couldn't help but remember how physically broken they had been when she had met them, and she remembered how this "Scar" person was responsible for that. Just his description made her nervous—a scar, a huge _scar _on his forehead, not to mention the fact that, even though she had never seen an Ishvalan before and had no reason to fear their skin or eye color, everyone referred to his race as something awful. The fact that he had killed State Alchemists with ease was also what kept her from resting.

After having gone for several days without sleeping, Delilah was just about out of it. In the morning, when she and Ross were preparing for the day, the Second Lieutenant had pointed out that she had put her dress on backwards. And at breakfast, just holding her fork straight had been a problem, which caused her even more trouble when she actually tried to eat. It was when Brosh caught her talking to a statue in the park as if it were Alphonse that the group began to worry.

Brosh hurried over to Ross and the Elric brothers to describe what he had seen. As one, the group glanced over to see that Delilah was now inspecting the flowers at the side of the path. Once they all had determined that she was acting relatively normal—at least for the time being—the four huddled together.

"She does seem to be quieter than usual today," Al noted.

"She put on her dress backwards this morning, and I had to help her put it on right," Ross added.

"She drank _milk _of all things at breakfast." Ed shuddered. "Oh, and she also kept dropping her fork."

"Drinking milk is normal for everyone but you, Brother," Al pointed out. "Do you think she's sick or something?"

Ed shrugged and frowned in thought. "She's seems distracted…well, more than usual, and since she thought that statue was Al, perhaps she could be hallucinating…. The best thing to do would be to approach her cautiously and ask her if she's been sleeping okay…. Have you two noticed anything at night?"

"I think I fall asleep before she does," Brosh offered uselessly.

"She always faces the other way, so I can't really tell," said Ross.

"Oh, I remember her telling me she's gone for a while without sleeping before," Al said. "She could be doing that again, for some reason."

Ed nodded. "Okay. Anyway, we're going to have to remain calm so we don't startle her and put her under any stress."

The group nodded and turned, only to find that Delilah was no longer there.

The boys jumped a foot in the air, clinging to each other in panic. "WHERE'D SHE GO?"

While the men freaked, Ross gained her bearings and discovered shoeprints in the grass leading away from the main path. After shouting at the boys to draw their attention and snap them out of their stupidity, she led them off the path and through the park. It was a bit difficult to discern where Delilah may have gone, as the grass shortened as they went on and it was harder to see where she had crushed the stalks as she walked.

Thankfully, Delilah hadn't been able to get too far, and they soon found her sitting with her knees tucked beneath her. She sat under an oak tree, her head bowed slightly so that it was hard to see her face around her hat.

"Hey, Del," Ed said, sounding gentle for once. "Don't run off like that."

Al knelt down beside the girl. "Yeah, you worried us." He was about to say something more, but he broke off when he noticed her trembling slightly. She lifted her head so her eyes were no longer shielded by her hat, and they all saw that her blue irises were hazy and unfocused.

"S-Scar…"

Everyone tensed, and Ross and Brosh immediately drew their guns and took up defensive positions.

"What do you mean, Del?" Ed asked.

Delilah reached out a shaky hand and touched Al's chest plate. "…Scar broke you again…."

Alphonse shifted in surprise, and it was a moment before Ed relaxed, but only slightly. "She's only hallucinating. He's not here."

"'Only'?" Al repeated incredulously.

Delilah tensed at his tone. "A-Alphonse?"

Al realized his mistake and tried to calm her down while Ed instructed Brosh to go get a car ready. "I'm okay, Delilah. Scar didn't hurt me at all. He's not even here."

Delilah moved her hand across his chest as if to assure herself that he was truly in one piece. "…Edward?"

"I'm okay too, see?" Ed said, pulling off his gloves and showing her his hands. "Not a scratch. Al," he went on quietly, "can you carry her?"

Al nodded and leaned closer to the girl. "Delilah, mind if I carry you?" When she didn't respond, he slowly picked her up anyway. As he stood, Delilah realized she was being carried and instinctively snuggled closer to his chest; the action would've caused Al to blush if he had blood. That is, until he saw that her eyes were still bleary.

"Delilah?" he prompted worriedly. She didn't reply. She simply closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

* * *

_a/n: This was going to be shorter, but I thought it would've been too short so I added some in to what was going to be the next chapter. So, yeah...cliffie. Ish. I guess? XD I already have part of the next chapter written in my notebook, so it shouldn't take too long for me to write the next chapter. So you shouldn't be waiting too long, I hope._

_I decided to include the Fuhrer in this chapter...just because. I dunno. I like how he seems like a generally nice man on the surface, but can become totally stern and dark two seconds later. Hah, when I was writing I could already hear some of you guys going, "PFT, nice man my ass," xD_

_But anyway, I've updated the summary of this fic to say that there may be a bit of darker themes later. They'll be pretty heavy in one or two chapters and certain scenes afterwards, but it definitely won't happen for several chapters, and it won't become the focus of the entire fic. I'm probably getting ahead of myself/overreacting to this, but I just wanted to let you guys know. I don't think it's anything to up the rating for, since I won't describe anything...ugh, I'm sorry, I'm probably worrying/boring you guys? Idk. I'll just shut up now. _

_...I mean, I'd only change the rating if I put a lemon in this story (something I've never done before), but that wouldn't happen until Al has his body back and he's healthy and all that jazz. So. Yeah. Um._

_Ugh, just ignore my ramblings and leave a review on your way out? :3 They're greatly appreciated!_


	8. Chapter 8

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this particular fic. Thanks._

* * *

Eight

_Delilah's dreams were dark and disorienting. She was constantly wandering through a cold mist, searching for a person whose name she couldn't recall. At first, her surroundings were vaguely like a dirty alley, but somehow she emerged onto a dry plain; the grass scratched unpleasantly at her ankles, and she couldn't see where she was putting her feet._

_ She tripped over a stone, and she grunted in slight pain before she lifted herself onto her hands and knees. She looked up to get her bearings and found herself staring into the blank eyes of Trisha Elric._

_ "I…apologize," Delilah said, stammering somewhat as guilt dripped from her voice. She had stumbled over Trisha's grave and disturbed her rest._

_ Suddenly, Trisha put an infant into her arms—Delilah hadn't noticed the baby before, nor had she noticed that she had risen into a standing position._

_ She looked at the baby in her arms, surprised. "Alphonse?"_

_ The baby stared at her innocently, sucking on his pacifier. "Delilah?" he replied, his voice echoing even though his mouth didn't move to speak._

_ Out of nowhere, a man with no head appeared next to Trisha and shoved a toddler into her hands as well. Delilah was so startled by the headless man that her heart rate skyrocketed and she broke out into a cold sweat._

_ "They're too much trouble," Trisha said before she and the man vanished._

_ "But…you want them, right…?" Delilah muttered after them, wanting to shout but somehow unable to do so. The toddler, Edward, tugged at her hair. His lips moved as if he was laughing, but Delilah didn't hear what he said. Alphonse reached up and tried to touch her hair as well, but his stubby arms were useless when it came to accuracy._

_ Without warning, she dropped the both of them. The two boys fell straight through the ground as if it wasn't there, and a moment later, she plunged down after them, landing on a hard surface. Once she regained herself, she looked around to find herself in a dark space; the only light shone down in an X-shape, illuminating everything there with a strange, white tint._

_ In the middle of the X were the bodies of Edward and Alphonse. Edward's blood pooled everywhere, and his mechanical arm and leg were broken to bits. Alphonse's body was shattered and torn, marked with bullet holes and dents, and his head lay on its side, his hair stained red. His blood seal was shattered._

_ Winry was crying over their lifeless bodies, and Delilah realized that she herself had been crying since the moment the infant Alphonse had been put into her arms._

()()()()()

When she finally awoke, Delilah only felt groggy. She knew she had had a nightmare since her heart was pounding, but she couldn't recall what had happened. Actually, the last thing she remembered was trying to eat breakfast. Obviously, she wasn't in the restaurant anymore—instead, she was in a dull-colored room, lying on a cot with itchy sheets.

Slowly, she regained her senses, and once she had done that, she realized her mistake. "I supposed I stayed awake too long again…."

The clank of metal alerted her to Alphonse; the armor-boy quickly came to her side. "You're awake!"

Edward was at his side a moment later. "'Again'?" he repeated.

Since her heartbeat had returned to normal, she was able to respond to him normally, without any adrenaline fueling her voice. "I pass out when I do not get enough sleep," she explained as she slowly sat up. "It is a natural reaction."

The boys were thrown at her answer, and Alphonse's fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. "'Natural'? Well, it's _not _healthy! And you had us worried sick!"

Delilah shied away from his outburst, not expecting Alphonse of all people to explode at her like that. She was saved from having to answer him when a doctor came into the room, followed by Ross and Brosh.

"Well, young lady, you gave your friends quite the scare," he commented. "From the looks of it, it was—"

"Exhaustion," she finished for him, glad to have a distraction from the angered vibes Alphonse was emitting; since he had yelled at her, it was impossible for her to ignore it. "I forgot to take the medicine my town doctor made for me to help me sleep. It find it nearly impossible to sleep without it, but it is easy to forget about."

Her explanation took everyone by surprise, but the doctor was the first to speak. "I assume you boys didn't know this?"

The brothers shook their heads, and Ed assured him that if they had known then this would never have happened in the first place.

"Your vitals are fine," the doctor went on, "so there's no reason to keep you here, especially since you need some good food in you for dinner, and frankly the lunch ladies here don't make a very nice meal. After you eat, the first chance you get, I want you to take your regular dosage and get lots of rest, understood?"

Delilah nodded, and Edward assured the doctor that they would make sure that she got sleep that night, as well as on a regular basis. Alphonse said nothing.

The car ride to the hotel was somewhat tense. Delilah expected the boys to lecture her, or for Al to launch into another outburst, but it was actually Ross who spoke.

"Delilah, you should take better care of yourself. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll be prone to sickness, and you're fragile enough already."

Delilah was still a bit too tired to appreciate Ross's words, however. She found herself zoning out, for once not thinking much of anything. However, the idea of having another nightmare—whatever may have happened in it—kept her awake. Thankfully, whenever she took her medicine, she usually didn't have any dreams at all.

After they all had dinner (Alphonse still refusing to speak or even pretend to eat), they all returned upstairs. Ross had Delilah show them where she kept her medicine in her briefcase, in case something happened again. She took it easily and crawled into bed, and for once she was asleep within minutes.

()()()()()

When she awoke and sat up, she noted that the clock on the wall read 5:15. For the past few days, the morning didn't start for their small group until at least six. However, she doubted she could fall back sleep, so she was about to stand in order to get dressed when she noticed she wasn't the only person awake in the room.

"Uh…good morning," Alphonse greeted from where he sat on the floor against the wall. He spoke softly, so as to not wake Edward, who was asleep in the other bed. "I hope you don't mind, but Brother and I were worried about you, so we switched with Ross and Brosh."

Delilah shook her head. "I do not mind."

Alphonse hesitated before he stood and walked over to her bed. "Mind if I sit down?" When she gave her permission, he sat on the edge of the bed; the mattress sagged under his weight. "So…why is it you can't sleep?"

"A form of insomnia. I have too many thoughts that do not let me sleep." She tipped her head. "But you cannot sleep either, can you? I suppose that makes us both insomniacs."

He let out a noise that resembled both a laugh and a sigh. "I guess you could say that." He paused. "But are you really okay? While you were unconscious, you muttered a lot. It looked like you were having a nightmare."

"I was, but I do not remember it. I always dream when I do not take my medicine. Sometimes I have nightmares."

"You…said my name, though," he said. "So part of it was about me…. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Delilah blinked. "But you do not scare me, Alphonse. Perhaps I thought something happened to you, but you do not scare me. You would not hurt me."

Alphonse's eyes widened a little at her words. He looked away for a moment before making eye contact again—he was a bit surprised to get eye contact from her of all people, but he was pleased, too. "Well, when you were hallucinating, you thought Scar had broken me again, so maybe the dream was about that. Have you been worried about him?"

At the name, Delilah flinched slightly. "…Yes. I do not want him to hurt you two again."

"Brother and I can take care of ourselves," Alphonse assured her. "I won't lie to you and say we won't get hurt, but you have to understand that we won't just let ourselves die. We have to get our original bodies back."

Delilah nodded slowly. "You are right. But I still worry. …I want to help you if you or Edward gets hurt…."

Al would have smiled if he could. "I understand. With your skills, I'm sure you'll get a chance to. And…I'm really sorry for yelling at you earlier. I was just worried about you. Brother was, too. But that happens with friends; you worry about them."

Delilah almost didn't understand what he said, for she had been completely floored by the context, that one word. "…Did you say 'friend'?"

Alphonse shifted. "Yeah, I did. What do you mean? Brother and I think of you as a friend, even though we haven't known you for that long…. Do you not…?"

Thick, warm drops of water splashed onto Delilah's hands, and she realized belatedly that she was crying.

Al panicked. "A-are you okay? What's wrong?"

Delilah wiped at her tears. "I…have never had anyone call me that before…"

His eyes widened. "Never?"

She shook her head and smiled at him. "You are my friend, too. You and Edward, and Winry and Den and Granny Pinako, and…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say anymore. She had never proclaimed anyone as her friend, either.

"…thank you," she finished.

()()()()()

Delilah took the remaining time after her tears had dried to get dressed. Alphonse had gone over to stand beside his brother so that neither of the Elrics would see her, purposely or accidentally. Not long after she was finished, Al was forced to wake his brother up.

Edward comically rolled over and faced his brother. "Al…"

"Come on, Brother. Sheska might be done today."

The elder Elric sat up and his face twisted into a determined grin. "You're right!" He jumped out of his bed and made to take his shirt off, but Al stopped him.

"Brother! Don't just start taking off your clothes. Sheesh."

Delilah smiled at Ed, still immensely happy that she had _friends_. "Good morning, Edward."

"Oh, right." Ed pulled away from his brother and ran a critical eye over Delilah's form. "Did she sleep all right, Al?"

"Up until about half an hour ago when she woke up. And she doesn't look tired anymore, see?"

Ed put a hand to his chin in thought. "I suppose she can help us today. But," he added, pointing an automail finger at her, "don't you do that again, you hear? You hardly have any money, and I don't want to pay for any more of your hospital bills!"

Delilah blinked, and then she genuinely laughed. "Okay!"

()()()()()

"Sorry it took so long, but there was so much material that it took me five days to write it down," Sheska said as she finished pulling out the last of the transcribed notes. She had an entire desk covered with several large stacks of paper. "Here you go! Right down to the last letter!"

Everyone was stunned, but Delilah recovered first and trotted over to Sheska. "That is amazing! I wish I had a photographic memory."

Sheska blushed. "It's nothing, really…."

"Now it makes sense," Al commented as he and Ed came over to look at the work. "Marcoh couldn't run away with his notes because of the sheer volume of material."

"Are you sure all of these are Marcoh's?" Ed asked Sheska.

"Yes!" Sheska said, holding up a couple stacks of the notes. "Tim Marcoh's recipe book: _One-Thousand Meals for Daily Living!_"

"…Huh?" Ed and Al chorused; Edward smiled as if he had heard her wrong. However, upon looking at the notes, the group discovered that, indeed, Marcoh's work was entirely about cooking.

"Sheska, are you sure that this is a flawless reproduction of Marcoh's work, down to the last detail?" Edward asked her.

"Yes! There are no mistakes!" Sheska insisted.

"You're amazing," Ed complimented, grinning at the notes. "Thanks a lot. C'mon Al," he went on, grabbing a large stack of papers, "let's take these back to the library!"

()()()()()

Once at the library, Edward explained that Marcoh had written his notes in code, and that it was their job to crack it. Delilah was excited; she loved puzzles, and the thought of helping her _friends _with their search for their original bodies filled her with surprising vigor.

Time seemed to go by slowly as they worked, but Delilah was actually enjoying deciphering all the notes. They had food delivered to their study room in the library, and Delilah and Ed only left to use the bathroom and wash up when Ross complained of their smell. Also, early in the endeavor, Al had made Delilah and Brosh go fetch the girl's medicine so she would be able to sleep on the study's couch instead of remaining awake. Alphonse had to do none of these things, so he was able to plow through a good portion of the work while Ed and Delilah were asleep. Still, he had to remain in tip-top shape, and Delilah took the time to make sure his joints were oiled.

Nearly a whole week of the monotony (well, it was entertaining to Delilah) went by before the three were visited by Sheska.

After announcing herself somewhat awkwardly, she bowed slightly. "Thanks to you, Edward, I was able to transfer my mother to an excellent hospital! I really don't know how to thank you…."

Edward waved his hand. "No sweat. It was nothing."

"But I feel bad about accepting so much money…."

"You don't need to worry about that. I got off cheap compared to the secret contained in this data." As he said it, he looked incredibly tired, probably reminded by the fact that he still hadn't been able to fully decipher the notes yet.

"So…how is your deciphering coming along?" Sheska asked. "I mean, these can't just be recipes…."

She was rewarded with the gloomy looks of Ed and Al. To be honest, even Delilah was starting to tire of the nonstop work.

"Have you found a job yet?" Alphonse asked.

Sheska slumped momentarily before she regained herself. "Well, I'd better go. Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Don't worry about the money," Ed added.

Sheska shifted. "It's not just the money…. It makes me so happy that a nobody like me, who's never been good at anything, was able to help out. Thank you."

"You're not a nobody," Alphonse assured her. "I think being so passionate about something is a talent in itself. Plus, with that amazing memory of yours, I'm sure you'll do all right."

"I wish I had your memory, Sheska," Delilah added.

Sheska smiled. "Thank you!"

The doors to the study suddenly opened, and a man with dark hair and glasses entered, startling Delilah. "YO!"

Ed and Al looked up at the man. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!"

The man, Hughes, smiled. "I heard from the Major that you'd be here. I told you guys to give me a call if you were ever in Central!"

"We've been kinda busy ever since we got here," Ed apologized.

"I know what you mean! I've been so swamped lately; I haven't been able to leave the office." Hughes scratched his head. "There've been so many incidents lately; the Court Martial office that I'm in charge of has been really bustling. And we still haven't closed the Tucker Chimera case." Noticing Edward's pained look, he frowned. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."

"'Tucker Chimera case'?" Delilah repeated.

Ed looked upset. "It's nothing." Even she could tell he was lying.

Hughes seemed to notice Ed's plight and saved the day in his own special way. "You must be Delilah! I'm Maes Hughes. The Major told me about you."

Delilah smiled at the man. "How is he?"

"Just great. Hey, you know who else is great? _My daughter, _Elicia!" In the blink of an eye, Hughes pulled out his wallet and began bombarding Delilah with pictures of a pigtailed toddler. "Isn't she just _adorable?_"

"Oh…" Delilah stared at the picture for a moment before she beamed. "She is!"

Hughes seemed delighted that she agreed with him, and he was about to move on to pictures of his wife when Edward said loudly, "WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR, HUGHES?"

Hughes reluctantly put away his wallet before sitting in an empty chair. "Just here on break, thought I'd drop in and say hi. I've gotta head back in a minute." He sighed. "It's busy enough as it is without the first branch burning down like that. I can't take much more of this."

"The first branch?" Al repeated

"Yeah. It was close to the Court Martial office so we used it to store our records. Incident logs, lists of names, that kind of thing. As you can imagine, the fire's really slowed us down."

As one, the trio of alchemists turned to look at Sheska. Within minutes of an explanation, Hughes hired her on the spot and dragged her off to the Court Martial office; as they left, Sheska called out what could've been a hundred thank-yous.

Somewhat refreshed by the visit, the three continued to work.

()()()()()

Once Edward had brilliantly discovered the cipher, the notes nearly seemed to translate themselves. Still, the sheer volume of the work required another day to be translated. The mood in the room began to heighten with excitement as they neared the end.

But it all ceased when Edward muttered two words, something that completely changed the nature of his and Alphonse's search, not to mention the atmosphere of the room.

"…human lives…"

* * *

_a/n: sorry if there are any typos...it's nearly 2am. XD Whoopsie. Maybe I should go to sleep. I apologize if the second half seemed rushed, but you all know what happened so I thought, screw it, I'll write less. The first part was what's important to this fic, anyway._

_Also, if you hadn't noticed, Delilah has already started to change a bit. If all goes according to plan, she'll go through a lot of character development, so I hope I do a good job. But yeah, she's never had friends before, mostly because of the stigma of mental illness and also because of her...airiness. But they're connected; she was so used to not really being engaged one-on-one in a fun, friendly way that she just sort of built a shell of airiness. Of course, it's part of her, but with Ed and Al it's already starting to go down a bit._

_Anyway, I got THREE reviews for the last chapter! Jfkl;asfja;l In the seven chapters before this one, I've had 17 reviews in total. SEVENTEEN. That is like gold to me. I haven't gotten so many reviews in so long. *cries a river*_

_Keep the reviews coming, please and thank you~ They make me write faster. *nodnod*_


	9. Chapter 9

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA. I only own my own OCs. Though sometimes I really do want to have Al all to myself...I mean. What._

* * *

Nine

Al's eyes widened. "You mean…"

Ed dropped what he was reading and looked at his brother, his golden eyes distraught.

Delilah felt a chill run down her spine, and she suddenly felt sick. She tried to save her stomach by thinking logically. "I-if the Stone—an imperfect one—if it does go by Equivalent Exchange…this sort of…makes sense…because lives are…" She trailed off, feeling shaky, and hid her face in her hands. _Lives are precious._

How could Marcoh research such a thing? How could he sacrifice human beings for such a purpose? He was a different man now, yes, but Delilah had no clue how she could look at the man anymore, much less go back home.

She suddenly felt…disgusting. _He healed me with his Stone. _He did a good thing—many good things—with his Stone, but knowing that human lives had been sacrificed to create it…

Edward suddenly jumped out of his chair, startling her and Alphonse. "DAMMIT!"

At the noise, Ross and Brosh entered the room. "What's going on?" the Second Lieutenant asked.

"We deciphered the code," Al explained heavily.

"But isn't that good?" Brosh asked.

"There's _nothing _good about it!" Edward snapped, falling to the floor as if he couldn't hold himself up anymore. "This really is the work of the devil…. What the hell was Marcoh _doing?_"

Uneasy, Brosh and Ross stared at Ed. "What's wrong?"

Edward held his forehead in his hand. "The main ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone is a living human being." He sighed, his voice shaky. "Maybe we would've been better off not knowing the truth. If what these documents say is true, then it was also take numerous human sacrifices to create _one _Stone."

"How could the military do something so inhumane?" Brosh gasped.

"We can't allow this to go unpunished!" Ross added.

Edward stared at the floor. "…Could you two please not tell anyone about this?" When Brosh started to protest, Ed interrupted him. "Please. Please act as if you never heard about this."

()()()()()

After double-checking the notes, Ed and Al used alchemy to burn them. If someone else saw the research, it might prove disastrous. Immediately after, they all returned to the hotel, where the brothers locked themselves in their room. Delilah was at a loss for what to do; she wished she could go in there and comfort them somehow, but she had no idea what to say—there was probably nothing she could say. In any case, the brothers were better left alone for the moment, and she herself felt the need to be in solitude for a while. She left Ross and Brosh in the hallway and entered her room to lie on her bed.

She buried her face in a pillow. What now? Marcoh had told her that once she was done she was to call him so that they could arrange for her to come back home, but how could she leave after figuring out something like _that? _How could she go back to a person whose hands were stained with death?

After the last three weeks, how could she go back to the place she was born? Her town was so small. Of course, Resembool was an even smaller town, but the people there, Winry and Pinako and Den, had been wonderful. She had felt special, too, even though she had only been there a few days. And after spending so much time with the Elric brothers, traveling to Central and seeing nearly the entire city and meeting the Fuhrer of all people, and having Alphonse call her _friend _for the first time in her life….

She worried about the brothers immensely. She felt dirty for having the Philosopher's Stone being used on her when she was a child, but she couldn't change that. But the boys were chasing after their original bodies, and the only choice they felt they had was to use the Philosopher's Stone. Unless they found some other way around it, the boys were faced with either using the Stone with its numerous human lives or staying forever as they were, encased by their sin.

Delilah began to cry silently into her pillow, only able to think of how unfair it all was.

After a little while, she forced herself to stand, and she headed over to the telephone. She dialed Marcoh's number—he wasn't wealthy enough to afford one on his own, but the townspeople had chipped in to get him one since he was the town doctor—and waited while the phone rang. He didn't answer, probably tending to a patient, and she felt relieved that she didn't have to speak to anyone just yet. She had no idea what she would've said, anyway.

Not wanting anyone to worry about her during all of the commotion, Delilah took her medicine. It took her a while, but she managed to fall asleep.

()()()()()

The next morning, the brothers were still locked up in their room and wouldn't come out. Delilah was disappointed, but she went downstairs to eat breakfast. Brosh went with her, and when they returned, the sergeant brought food for Ross while Delilah brought her leftovers and another meal for Edward—she was still trying to keep up the ruse that Al wasn't hollow. She knocked on the door, announcing who she was and why she was there, and after a moment Alphonse opened the door.

"`Morning," he greeted, trying and failing to sound cheery. He took the tray from her, but when she simply stood there and stared at the floor, he considered her for a moment. "Want to come in?"

She nodded meekly, and he stepped aside to allow her room. He closed the door behind her and locked it once more.

"Breakfast, Brother," he announced, bringing the tray over and setting it on the coffee table.

"Y-you should eat," Delilah added, sticking close to Al.

Edward looked incredibly tired and worn out. "I'm not hungry," he said, leaning his head back on the couch and staring up at the ceiling.

A rush of concern flooded through her, and she did something uncharacteristic: she clenched her fists and gazed hard at the boy. "I slept. So you should eat."

Both brothers, surprised at her tone, turned to look at her. Realizing herself, she relaxed her muscles and glanced down for a moment, but then she returned to staring at Ed. After a moment, Ed grew irritated.

"Of course you did! Your life wasn't riding on the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Brother!" Al exclaimed, shocked, but before he could say anything more, Delilah recovered from her surprise and spoke.

"The only reason I am able to even be viewed as a normal person is because of the doctor's Stone! I feel disgusting because of it!" She put her face in her hands, squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself not to break down. "I feel disgusting at home all the time because no one can forget how I was, and now when I can finally have friends I learn that the reason I do is because of death!"

Edward stared at her and seemed to grow smaller in guilt. There was a moment of silence before he spoke. "I'm sorry, Del. I shouldn't have done that."

At his words, she realized herself and put her hands down, shaking her head. "N-no, I apologize. Your problem is much bigger than mine." She felt ashamed of herself for her outburst.

_How could I have even spoken out like that in the first place? _It wasn't like her. And how could she have acted as if her problems mattered as much as theirs? She was in perfect physical health aside from her insomnia; Ed was missing limbs, and Al was missing his body.

"I will leave you alone," she said hurriedly, trying to mask herself with her usual distant tone, but Al touched her shoulder and stopped her.

"You don't have to leave, Delilah." At her pause, he asked, "Have you called Dr. Marcoh yet?"

"He did not answer. Excuse me," she finished, pulling away from Alphonse and heading to the door. She paused just before she left. "Please eat, Edward."

()()()()()

Delilah stayed in her room for the rest of the day, opting to order room service for a late lunch rather than leave. She was mentally tired, but it still didn't stop her from thinking.

She knew that Alphonse had probably just been curious when he had asked her about if she had called Marcoh, but she couldn't help but wonder if the boys wanted her to leave for home already. She didn't want to leave, though. She didn't want to go back there. It may have been where she lived, but after the last three weeks, she had no idea whether she could call that place her home or not.

"EDWARD AND ALPHONSE! ARE YOU IN THERE?"

Pulled from her thoughts by the unmistakable voice of Major Armstrong, Delilah sat up.

"IT IS I! OPEN THE DOOR!"

Curious, Delilah went to her door and opened it, poking her head out into the hallway to see the Major burst into Ed and Al's room. "I HEARD ALL ABOUT IT, EDWARD ELRIC! Such a tragedy! Who would've imagined that the Philosopher's Stone concealed such a terrible secret? Not only that, but if this hellish research was being conducted by an organization working under the military, then it is a grave situation indeed! I cannot in good conscience stay quiet about this matter!"

Delilah had first been uplifted by the Major's appearance—she hadn't realized that she had somewhat missed his eccentric ways—but his words once again reminded her of the severity of the situation.

In any case, Delilah came over into the room in time to hear the Elric brothers nervously explain to Brosh and Ross that they had wanted to get the Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies after a "mishap" during the Civil War.

Brosh's face fell. "It must've been so disappointing to find out what you did."

The Major nodded; tears streamed down his face. "The truth can be so cruel."

Ed's eyes widened. "The truth?"

"What's wrong?" Al asked.

Ed put a hand to his mouth in thought. "Do you remember what Marcoh told us? You know, what he told us at the train station—'The truth that lies within the truth.' Maybe there might be something _more_… Major, do you have a map of Central?"

()()()()()

The Major unfolded a map and placed it on the coffee table. "Presently, the military oversees four alchemical research labs within the city. The one Dr. Marcoh was affiliated with was Laboratory Three."

"Then the research probably took place there," Ross put in.

Ed peered at the map. "I visited the lab right after I got my government license, but I don't remember there being any kind of significant research going on there." He pointed to one of the buildings on the map. "What's this place?"

"That was Laboratory Five, but they shut that down years ago," Ross explained. "No one can go there because it isn't structurally safe."

"That's our place."

Brosh looked at Ed quizzically. "What makes you so certain?"

Edward pointed to another spot, next to the lab. "There's a prison next to it."

The information clicked in Delilah's brain, and she shivered. "They used the prisoners sentenced for execution as Stone ingredients."

Edward nodded to her.

Ross looked sick. "They used the _prisoners_ as _ingredients?_"

"Hey, this makes me sick too, Second Lieutenant," Ed replied.

"So if the prison's involved, does that mean the government is in on it, too?" Brosh wondered nervously.

"Until we know more, it's hard to say if it goes up to the top, or just to the warden," said Ed.

Both officers looked stricken. "I feel like we've gotten ourselves way in over our heads," Ross admitted.

Alphonse let out the sound of a sigh. "That's why we told you to forget everything you'd heard."

The Major crossed his arms. "Remember, this is all speculation. It's possible that the government might not be involved and that this research department is acting independently."

"Who's in charge of the research department?" Alphonse asked.

"According to the registry, it's Brigadier General Basque Grand, the 'Iron-Blooded Alchemist,'" said the Major.

"Why don't we start by contacting Grand?" Ed suggested.

"That's not possible," replied the Major. "He was murdered by Scar just a few days ago."

At the mention of the name, Delilah shivered slightly. Alphonse noticed and nodded slightly to her, as he couldn't give her any sort of reassuring look, and she relaxed slightly.

"Scar has killed numerous State Alchemists that were affiliated with military command," the Major went on, rolling up the map. "Among those killed, there may have been someone who knew the truth. If someone of higher rank than Brigadier General Grand is involved with this project…then the situation may be truly complicated. I'll investigate this on my own and report back to you when I know more. Until then, the Second Lieutenant and the Sergeant will not mention this to anyone. And Delilah and the Elric brothers will _stay put!_"

Delilah hadn't expected to be included in that order, and apparently, the brothers hadn't expected the order at all. "WHAT?"

The Major stared incredulously at the boys before he erupted in anger and concern. "HRRMPH! You two were going to sneak into the building to investigate, _weren't you? _DON'T EVEN THINK OF IT! This is _far _too _dangerous _for children like you to go in _alone! _Even _if_ there _may _be a clue there to regaining your original bodies!"

"OKAY, OKAY!" Edward waved his arms at the Major to try to get him to calm down. "Sheesh, as if we'd do something that dangerous."

Alphonse nodded. "We'll wait here for your report, Major."

The Major seemed to be satisfied. "Good. Well, I must be off now. Guard them well, officers," he said before leaving the room. Brosh and Ross, figuring that the trio of teenagers might want some privacy, left the room as well, closing the door behind them.

Delilah may not have known the brothers for very long, but when she turned to face them, she knew what they were going to do. And she had a strong feeling that she couldn't stop them—part of her wanted to try, yes, but another part of her said that they _had _to go see for themselves about this. "Be careful."

The boys froze, almost as if they had been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. "W-what're you talking about, Del?" Ed asked, pretending not to know.

"Perhaps it really is abandoned and you will not be in danger," she continued, trying to think positively. She didn't bother trying to set Ed straight.

"You're probably right," Al agreed, though privately he had no way of knowing if she was or not. "But you're definitely staying here, all right? Just in case."

"And I ate, so make sure you sleep," Ed added in a stern tone, reminding her of their earlier conversation.

Delilah nodded and grew somber. "…I will go call the doctor again, since we found out about his research." The brothers didn't know what to say to this, and she left them in silence.

()()()()()

She didn't move toward the telephone for a long time, mostly because she didn't want to. Even after Ross rushed into the room and told her Ed and Al had snuck out and that she was to wait there with the door locked while the officers went to get them, she couldn't bring herself to do much else but worry. What was happening at Laboratory Five? They were certainly taking a long time…they had been gone at least an hour or two…maybe longer.

She remembered Ed's order to go to sleep, but Delilah doubted that she would be able to, even with her medicine.

Something finally compelled her enough to get up and go to the phone. She dialed Marcoh's number, but once again, he didn't answer. This, combined with her worry over the brothers, prompted her to dial the sheriff's station in her town. After a few rings, a man answered. "Hello?"

"Mr. Robinson?"

Robinson recognized her voice. "Delilah? That you? Hey, where've you and Dr. Mauro been for the past few weeks? No one's seen you guys since you rushed to the train station. No one's been answering at your house, so I assumed you guys left to visit someone."

Delilah's blood ran cold. "D-Dr. Mauro?"

"Yeah. Neither of you two are here." He paused. "Is something—?"

"Oh. I must have the wrong Mr. Robinson, sorry," she said quickly, trying to mask her voice. She quickly hung up, and she felt her muscles shake slightly.

Marcoh was missing. That much she had been able to gather. And it seemed that he had gone missing just after she had left with the Elrics. Where could he have gone to? Had he left by himself, afraid of the government, or had someone taken him? As unsure as she had been about him up until a minute ago, Delilah was now only filled with extreme concern.

She wanted to do something. She wanted to be able to find Marcoh and help him, but of course she wasn't strong enough to, not in any way, except for maybe her smarts. She had never truly been anywhere by herself before. There was also the fact that she didn't want to leave Edward and Alphonse. She had no idea what to do.

"Well, look who I found. A friend of the Fullmetal pipsqueak."

Startled, Delilah whipped around to see some boy—_was_ it a boy?—sitting on the sill of her now-open window. His body was lean and taut with muscle, and his wore a strange top and some combination of shorts and skirt. His hair was dark green and hung around him in strands, and he had an odd tattoo on his thigh. He leered at her.

* * *

_a/n: Trollololol. Cliffhanger. Shoot me already. (That was said sarcastically. Please don't.)_

_Anyway, angst here. You know, the stuff about the Stone needing human lives, stuff about how Delilah doesn't want to leave her friends, stuff about sneaking into Lab 5. All that jazz. OH AND LOOK. Envy. But why is Envy there? It certainly can't be for a good reason. Expect more angst._

_As a side-note, I had a fish for only two days before it died. I had named it Al, so his death was especially traumitizing. Rest in peace, Al the Fish. This chappie was for you._

_I've gotten even more alerts and reviews! Thank you all, and I hope you keep reviewing. Like I've been saying, reviews REALLY help me write faster~_


	10. Chapter 10

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs. `Nuff said._

* * *

Ten

Delilah nearly screamed, but her terror kept her mute as she stared at the boy.

He rolled his eyes. "Please. As if I'd want to do something _unspeakable _to someone disgusting and small like you. But if I heard you right, you're looking for Marcoh?"

Delilah tensed further at the name, and the boy stood and stalked over to her before he roughly grabbed her face with one hand. "Wouldn't you like to know where your precious adoptive daddy is? Heh. He sure was easy for Lust to rough up, just like the Fullmetal runt was for me."

She finally found her voice. "…Edward?"

The boy smirked. "You might wanna check down at the hospital for him later. But I have a deal for you, missy: I'll let you go without _too_ much of a scratch if you promise to keep your little trap shut about Marcoh missing. It's kinda a hush-hush thing; you guys definitely won't be able to find him, but we'd rather you not poke around. Besides, you wouldn't want to have to tell his story to the military, right? And in return, I'll let you stay free for now."

Delilah neither moved nor spoke. At this, the boy narrowed his eyes at her and gripped her harder. "Listen, bitch," he hissed. "I could always get into that hospital. It would be easy to kill someone—or at least have them stay _longer_. Maybe the Fullmetal kid, maybe someone else. I'm sure I could figure out how to dismantle a walking tin can. And I'm not allowed to kill you—I honestly think you're too weak to even be a _candidate_—but I could make you wish you were dead."

She suddenly felt a warm liquid begin to run down her cheeks, and she realized that he had pierced her skin. "O-okay."

"Promise?"

She jerked her head in a nod. "P-promise."

He grinned hugely. "Good." He let go of her, but not before shoving her away; she landed on the bed. "If I'm not mistaken," he began, his tone conveying that he was anything but, "Marcoh taught you medicinal alchemy. Heal yourself up before I force you to."

Fearing for her life, Delilah hurried to do as she was told. She pulled her chalk out of her dress pocket and drew a quick transmutation circle on her palm…or she tried to, at least. The chalk wouldn't rub off well on her sweaty hands.

"Use your filthy human blood, you idiot," the boy spat.

She dabbed at her cheek with trembling fingers and drew a circle before holding a palm up to her face and healing the cuts. The boy gave her more instructions, and she hurried to the bathroom to clean the blood off her face and hands. She was shaking so badly that she splashed water onto her dress.

"Remember, you little shit," he told her when she came out again, "say one word about me or Marcoh and I'll slit your throat, candidate or not. But only after I deal with your _friends._" He spat out the word like it was the worst of insults.

The word struck a chord within her. "P-please… no," she begged, her voice interrupted by sobs. Tears started streaming down her face.

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, you idiot. Just make sure I don't have to come after you." His eyes glinted. "_Take care_." With that, he waved at her with a wicked grin and leapt out the window.

Alone now, Delilah stood still in shock before she fell to her knees and sobbed.

()()()()()

When she finally calmed, she wondered if it had all just been a nightmare. Perhaps discovering the key ingredient to a Philosopher's Stone had been the beginning, and she was only waking up now.

But she couldn't deny what had happened, as she was lying on the hotel room floor, her face wet with tears. She was cold, since the window was still open. Her palm had a reddish tint on it; she hadn't managed to completely clean herself up. The memory of why the blood was there in the first place nearly made her start crying again, but she knew that she had to get up. What if someone came in and found her like this? She doubted she could come up with a plausible explanation, and if someone discovered what had happened, then that boy with the strange tattoo would…

She didn't feel safe. She hadn't felt that way for years, and she hated how it had returned. She wanted it to stop. She would do nearly anything for it to stop.

She managed to pull herself out of her thoughts and stood, heading to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, and when she came out she inspected herself in the mirror. There were no marks on her skin due to her alchemy, not even a bruise, but she couldn't deny that she looked tired; she had stayed awake the whole night, after all. But she could easily attribute that to being worried, which was partly the truth.

She left the bathroom and got dressed, but not before closing the window and pulling the curtains closed. She knew there couldn't be anyone in the room with her anymore, but she felt on edge, as if she were being watched.

How had that boy known where she was? He seemed to have known her, maybe not her name, but enough about her to know that she had a connection to Marcoh. What had he—or that "Lust" person he had spoken of—done with the doctor? Why had he called her a "candidate"? Whatever it was, it seemed to be the only reason she was alive, so she was grateful for that. But still, she was worried about Edward and Alphonse, and of course about her own well-being.

A sudden knock on the door nearly caused Delilah to have a heart attack, and a booming voice asked, "Miss Delilah? May I come in? It is I!"

After a surprised moment on her part, she did her best to shake off her worries. "One moment," she called, heading to the door and opening it to reveal the Major, as she was expecting. Seeing him in his uniform was just another reminder for her of where Edward and Alphonse were supposed to be.

"What happened?" she asked anxiously, allowing the Major to enter.

"There was an incident at Laboratory Five last night," he explained. "Edward has been hospitalized, I'm afraid, but the Second Lieutenant reports that he is in stable condition. She informed me that you were still here, so I came to bring you to the clinic. Shall we?"

A pit swelled in her stomach at his words. "O-of course." She hurried to collect her hat and, after a thought, she grabbed her briefcase. She had nothing in it that would help Ed, but in case she had to sleep at the hospital, she didn't want to have to run back for her things. Besides, she didn't think she would ever be able to sleep alone in that room—or any other room, maybe—ever again.

On the way to the clinic, the Major informed her that there had been an explosion at Laboratory Five and that the building was now a pile of rubble. According to Ross's report, there had been a strange man in a suit of armor at the scene (both the Major and Delilah doubted that this person was of the flesh), and that there had also been a strange boy whom had brought Edward out of the building. Both had gotten away.

From what Delilah heard of the stranger from the Major's description, she knew without a doubt that it had to be the boy who had broken into her room.

()()()()()

When she came into Ed's room, she found the boy sitting up, looking particularly grumpy at the fact that he was bedridden. Al wasn't in the room, a fact that made Delilah worried, but her first concern at the moment was Edward.

"Edwa—" she began, moving to him, but the Major interrupted.

"EDWARD ELRIC!" I was so worried about you!" he cried, rushing to the boy and enveloping him in an embrace.

Ed's eyes bulged. "M-Major! I can't breathe!"

Reluctantly, the Major let go. "Where is Alphonse? I wish to check on him as well."

Ed shrugged, grimacing at the soreness of his wounds (he had probably been fine up until the Major had crushed him). "He's been hanging around somewhere. Maybe you'll find him if you go look."

Needing no further prompting, the Major left. Now that it was just the two of them, Ed flopped back onto his pillow and groaned.

"Why does the Major have to do that…? Hey there, Del," he greeted.

Realizing that she had just been standing there, Delilah put her briefcase down by the door and hurried over to Edward. "May I see your wounds?"

Ed grinned. "I was hoping you would say that. I wanna be outta here as soon as possible."

He shifted, which was a bit tricky since his automail arm was in a sling, but he pointed out where the doctors had stitched him up. He told her that a nurse had left some paper and a pencil for him on request of Ross so he could draw some of what he had seen; Delilah used that to draw a transmutation circle. As she closed Ed's wounds, she explained that she was inexperienced with healing anything below the skin, and that his now-closed wounds might break open if he moved too much. She also suggested that he rest a lot. Ed grumbled a bit, but thanked her anyway.

When she was finished, she set aside the paper and sat in the chair beside his bed. Ed could easily guess what was on her mind—well, partially, at least—and he reluctantly launched into a brief description of last night's events. Apparently, their suspicions about Laboratory Five had been correct. Ed had been able to sneak inside (but not Al, as he was too large to fit through the air vents), and he had come across a pair of brothers bonded to a suit of armor and its helmet. While he had been fighting them, Al had been attacked by another armor-man who called himself "Barry the Chopper." These people had been guarding the lab.

At this point in the conversation, Ed paused, looking pained. "I managed to defeat the ones after me. One of them was about to tell me what he knew, but then these…_people _killed them. I think one of them was named Envy. They called me a 'human sacrifice' and allowed me to live, for some reason. But Envy still gave me some bruises." He pointed out one on the middle of his stomach.

Delilah was horrified, but she managed to control her emotions. She wished that none of this had happened to them, but it had, and she had a feeling it would again. Not wanting to be having this conversation, she tried to change the subject a bit. "Where is Alphonse?"

"Something's eating him. He's been a bit quiet since we got back, but he'll come around. It's no big deal, probably." He glanced at her. "You look tired, Del. You sleep last night?"

The memory of the boy flashed in her mind, and she wondered if he had be the one called "Envy." It probably was.

She shook her head, partly to answer Ed's question and partly to try and dispel her own thoughts. "I was too worried. And…I was thinking about something."

Her words piqued Ed's interest. "About what?"

Delilah opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, and at that moment, the door opened and Alphonse came in.

Ed brightened. "Hey, Al. The Major was looking for you."

"He found me," Al answered simply. At his lifeless tone, Delilah knew that he wasn't quite all there. He reminded her of how she sounded when her mind was on something.

"Hello, Alphonse," she greeted.

He seemed to realize only just then that she was there. "Hey." He went over to sit on a stool at the far wall. She frowned.

Ed turned back to Delilah. "What were you saying?"

She looked at her lap. "…Nothing important." Desperate to change the topic, she looked up and asked, "Have you called Winry about your arm?"

"Yup. She didn't seem too happy about it, though. She should be here tomorrow afternoon if she catches the first train."

Delilah smiled. "I cannot wait to see her!"

Ed suddenly looked confused. "What about Marcoh?"

Her heart leapt into her throat. "…He has not answered yet."

He raised an eyebrow. "You sure you've been calling him, Del?"

It was her turn to be confused. "Of course I have."

"I dunno." Ed shrugged. "Sounds like you're lying so you can try to come with us to more places. What do you think, Al?"

Alphonse looked up. "I don't know."

His tone caught Ed off-guard, and before he could somehow start wondering about Marcoh again, Delilah asked, "Have you eaten?"

Ed blinked. "Breakfast. No lunch yet."

Delilah stood. "I will go see if there is any ready." And she left. Somehow, she managed to get to the bathroom before the tears started to leak out of her eyes.

()()()()()

She managed to calm down, and the rest of the day and the next passed a bit awkwardly. Ed asked her if she was going to go back to the hotel to sleep, but she refused, using some excuse about wanting to see Winry as soon as possible. She could tell that Ed was starting to get a bit suspicious of her actions, but he let it go. Delilah was glad he did; she had no desire to explain anything, not even a fact as simple as how she didn't want to be alone at night. She only managed to sleep because Ed reminded her about her medicine.

With nothing better to do, Ed slept for most of the time. Al stayed quiet, and Delilah was nervous about disrupting his thoughts, so she stayed silent as well. She doubted she would be able to speak about anything even if Alphonse was being more talkative. His unusual behavior was just another worry in her mind.

()()()()()

Delilah was returning from a trip to the bathroom when she bumped into Alphonse—literally. She hadn't been looking where she was going, and apparently, neither had he. Unfortunately, Delilah now had a sore spot on her forehead, and she rubbed it gingerly.

"Sorry," Al apologized. For the first time in a while, genuine concern was in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied, removing her hand and rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She may have gotten sleep the night before, but even with her medicine she had kept half-waking up. She doubted that she had taken the right dosage…or maybe she was starting to develop a tolerance to her current prescription.

"Winry's here," Alphonse stated, his tone becoming a bit flat once more. Delilah noticed but didn't comment.

"Oh. I will go see her." She paused. "Where are you going?"

"A walk. I'll be back later." With that, he walked past her.

Concern and fear filled her as she watched him leave. She hadn't said anything about Envy, but that didn't stop her from fearing him coming back.

_"I'm sure I could figure out how to dismantle a walking tin can."_

But she didn't follow him. Instead, she suddenly found herself looking up into the face of Maes Hughes. The smiling man was dressed casually; she assumed he was off-duty.

"Hey there, Delilah," he greeted cheerily. "Care to take me to see Ed? I have some good news to give him."

Delilah glanced to where Alphonse had gone, but he had disappeared by now. She greeted the Lieutenant Colonel and led him to Edward's room.

* * *

_a/n: First, I apologize for any typos or any rushed sort of writing. It may only be 11pm but I've had a long day and I'm having trouble spelling correctly right now. But I wanted to get a chapter up because why not. I also haven't really read through the whole of this chapter for typos, so yeah. I might do that later._

_Second, yes, Envy didn't kill her because she's a candidate for human sacrifice. A **candidate. **Just that. Just a fall-back in case something happens to the other sacrifices. She's a fall-back because, while she's a relatively, physically-weak person at the moment, she IS Marcoh's assistant/apprentice and she preforms medicinal alchemy, which if you think about it could very well relate to human transmutation...if I'm making sense right now. Well, it makes sense to me when I'm awake so idk if I'm explaining it very well right now._

_Third, don't worry about Al, Del's just being a worrywart because of what's going on._

_Haha, the reviews I got seemed pretty excited about Envy. I think he's cool, but I really do see him as a pretty violent, bad guy, so I did my best to keep him in character...I hope I did well... *slumps*_

_Anyway, Del and Ed got some one-on-one time, Al's being depressed, Del's being depressed...yeah. Shit's gonna hit the fan soon._

_Please don't forget to leave a review on your way out! I really do love them. c:_


	11. Chapter 11

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, I only own my own OCs and this particular fic. I'd say something witty but eh you get the point._

* * *

Eleven

"Hey, Ed!" Hughes yelled, barging into the room ahead of Delilah, past Ross and Brosh, who were guarding the door. "_I heard you snuck a girl into your room!"_

Ed fell out of his bed, and blood spurted from his side.

"Your wound!" Delilah was about to dash forward to try and seal it again, but Edward's attention was directed at Hughes; the boy was trembling in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"SHE'S JUST MY AUTOMAIL MECHANIC!"

"So, you hooked up with your mechanic, huh?" Hughes deduced. Ed writhed in mental agony, and the man added, "Your wounds will open up if you don't watch it."

Ed sighed and finally calmed down, and Delilah took the opportunity to hurry over and inspect his wound; luckily, it was a small opening and it was already being clotted by his blood, so Delilah didn't bother to close it. Ed introduced Hughes to Winry, and it was at that point that Delilah noticed the other girl. She was happy to see a familiar face.

"Anyway, Hughes," Ed went on, "isn't there work you should be doing?"

The Lieutenant Colonel chuckled. "I have the afternoon off! Though we've been busy lately, I made Sheska work overtime."

Ed sweatdropped. "You're an evil man."

Hughes ignored the remark. "It's true that I wanted to see how you were doing, but there's another reason I dropped by. I just got some news about the Scar incident." The name worried Delilah, but the man's next words were happy. "Your bodyguards are going to be dismissed soon."

Ed brightened considerably. "Really? I can finally get these annoying chaperones off my back?" Ross and Brosh didn't seem to be impressed with his words.

Winry was startled, and she pointed a finger in Ed's face. "_Bodyguards_? What kind of danger have you been in?"

Ed panicked. "N-nothing, really! Don't worry about it!" He looked away. "It's no big deal."

The girl put her hands on her hips. "Figures. You and Al never tell me anything, no matter how nicely I ask." She sighed and picked up her toolbox. "Well, guess I'll see you tomorrow. I have to go find a place to stay for the night."

"You and Del can stay in the military hotel. She's been sleeping here, so I cancelled her room, but you can get another one cheap if you tell them I sent you."

Winry made a face. "Military hotel? Sounds a bit too strict for me."

"I do not want to stay there, either," Delilah added, meaning that she did not want to leave the boys at all, never mind go back to the place where Envy had threatened her. Just the thought made her blood feel cold.

Hughes suddenly had an idea. "You two can stay at my place! My family would love to have you!" He picked up Delilah's briefcase and handed it to the young girl before taking both her and Winry's hands. "This is yours, right? Let's get going!" Before anyone could stop him, he was dragging both girls out the door.

()()()()()

Incredibly nervous now that she was away from Ed and Al, Delilah stayed mostly silent and stuck close to Winry as Hughes led them through Central, stopping at various shops along the way. When Winry asked him what all the items were for, he grinned like he had been waiting the entire time for someone to ask.

"Today happens to be my daughter's birthday!" he explained, coming to a stop at the entrance to a house. He was about to set down what he was carrying, but the door opened to reveal a short-haired, lovely-looking woman carrying a pigtailed toddler.

"Welcome home, Papa!" the little girl said as her mother placed her on the ground.

"Elicia, I missed you so much!" Hughes cooed, kneeling down to snuggle his daughter tightly. He then stood and politely introduced them all to each other and explained that Winry and Delilah needed a place to stay for the night. Gracia quickly agreed, and while the Hugheses seemed to be a warm and welcoming family, Delilah silently doubted about if she was going to get any sleep that night due to her fear. Though she had been dragged into this, she graciously thanked the family along with Winry.

Winry knelt beside Elicia. "How old are you today?"

"Tw..." Elicia held up two fingers but trailed off before adding another digit. "Three!"

Hughes and Winry squirmed at the toddler's adorableness, and even with all her thoughts, Delilah couldn't help but smile.

"Is it okay for us to stay here during her birthday?" Winry asked.

"I do not want to be a burden," Delilah added.

Hughes smiled. "The more the merrier, right? Welcome to the family!"

()()()()()

The birthday party went off without a hitch. Many people and their children came to celebrate, and Delilah joined in the cheers when Elicia blew out her candles. However, Delilah wasn't much for socialization, so she mostly tried to stay out of the way. She felt a bit lonely and nervous, but she didn't know what else to do but watch.

A while later, she felt a tug on her dress, and she looked down to see Elicia fisting the fabric; she was surrounded by a few of her young friends.

Delilah blinked in surprise. "Yes?"

"You're pretty, like sister Winry," Elicia said. "Can you do anything cool like she can? She fixed my toy!"

No one had ever called her pretty before. Not knowing how to respond to the comment, she lowered herself to Elicia's eye level, taking care to tuck her dress behind her knees.

"I can do a bit of alchemy, if you can get me a bit of paper and a pencil."

Elicia looked excited, and she ran off with her chattering friends, only to come back a few moments later with what Delilah had asked for. She drew a simple transmutation circle and put her hands on it, using the material of the paper to make a small, folded bird.

"Happy birthday," Delilah wished, nearly forgetting to put some warmth into her words.

Elicia marveled at the creation before she gave Delilah a quick hug and picked up her bird. All of the other children were envious, and they quickly gathered the leftover wrapping paper and begged Delilah to transmute more. For nearly the rest of the afternoon, she was transmuting paper birds.

()()()()()

There was only one extra bedroom, but Hughes was nice enough to move the couch cushions into the room so the girls wouldn't have to share the small bed. Delilah volunteered to take the cushions, since she doubted she would be able to fall asleep.

After her turn in the bathroom, Delilah took her medicine and settled under the covers. Winry came back from the washroom a few minutes later, clad in her pajamas. She glanced at Delilah and frowned in puzzlement.

"Sleepy already?" she asked, going to sit in her bed.

"Not really," Delilah answered truthfully.

"I am. It's been a long day. The party was fun though, don't you think?"

"It was," Delilah agreed, although for the first half she had hardly had any sort of fun. But then she remembered the rest of it. "…Elicia called me pretty," she admitted quietly.

"Hm?" Winry rolled over and propped her head up with her hand. "You are."

She blushed. "No one has ever told me that. She is only three, but…"

"Well, you're a…quiet pretty," Winry told her. "It's there, but not pronounced. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Delilah didn't feel like a pretty person, but she thought she understood what the older girl was trying to say. "…Thank you," she whispered.

Winry smiled. "It's the truth." She rolled over onto her back and was silent for a moment. "Delilah? Do you know how Ed got those injuries?"

She didn't want to lie, but she also remembered how Ed hadn't told Winry about what had happened. He had only told Delilah what went on because she had known in the first place where he and Al had gone. "Yes. But Edward should tell you."

The older girl sighed. "They never tell me anything. I know why, but still, I worry about them. But anyway, enough about them, I never got to ask you much about yourself back in Resembool, so spill! Where're you from?"

Delilah was a bit surprised at Winry's topic change, but she indulged the girl after a moment. She told her where she was from and how she was raised, always referring to Marcoh as "the doctor," and she skipped over how exactly he had healed her. She also tried to downplay how uninteresting her life had been up until she met the Elric brothers. She hadn't loved her life, that was for sure, but she had accepted it, not knowing anything different.

"But you don't want to go home yet, do you?" Winry asked quietly.

She closed her eyes. "No." _I am not the person that left that town. Even after just these few weeks, I am different. I do not think I could stand it._

Not wanting to talk anymore, Delilah rolled over, away from Winry. "Good night," she wished, trying to keep herself from crying about the fact that she had no idea what to do.

"Oh. Good night, then." Winry sounded a bit surprised, but she didn't pry, and she soon fell asleep. Delilah didn't fall asleep for a long while.

()()()()()

Winry had to wake Delilah up in the morning, and it wasn't until Hughes was driving them back to the hospital to visit Ed that she fully came to her senses.

"…What happened?" she asked, accidently interrupting Hughes and Winry's conversation.

Winry turned around to face her, smiling. "Well good morning to you, sleepyhead. We're heading to see Ed and Al, don't you remember?"

"Oh. That makes sense."

Hughes laughed. "You're probably still tired from the party yesterday. Elicia sure did have fun! She talked all about how her 'big sisters' helped to make it a special day. Thank you, girls, for making it so great."

"It was no problem, Mr. Hughes." Winry beamed at him.

Within a few minutes, they had arrived at the hospital. Hughes parked the car and walked inside with the girls, leading them to Ed's room. Along the way, Winry and Hughes chatted pleasantly while Delilah followed silently, grateful for every step that led her closer to the brothers. She felt safer just by knowing that they were near.

After greeting Brosh and Ross, Winry opened the door to Ed's room, and Delilah stuck close behind her, wanting to waste no time—

"I NEVER _ASKED_ FOR THIS DAMN BODY!"

Winry stopped dead, and Delilah nearly stumbled into her, thrown off-balance by the strength behind the words. Her stomach felt cold at the tone; she felt the desire to run, but she was frozen as she stared past Winry, looking at the person who had shouted.

Alphonse stood tall, his stance imposing, his fists clenched. He appeared to have risen to his feet in a hurry, as the stool he had been sitting on lay on the floor, forgotten.

"I-I'm sorry, Al," Ed apologized in a small voice. From this angle, Delilah couldn't see his face, and she couldn't imagine his pained look—Alphonse was taking up all her attention.

"You're right," Ed went on. "It's _my _fault that all of this happened. That's why I want to get you back to normal as soon as possible."

Al's eyes narrowed. "Is there really any guarantee that we can get our original bodies back?"

"I'll get you back to normal. You've just gotta believe me!"

_"'Believe' you?" _Alphonse exploded. He held up his fists and glared at his hands. "What am I supposed to _believe _in this empty shell of a body?! According to alchemic theory, human beings are composed of a physical body, mind and soul! But has anyone ever verified that in an experiment?" He lowered his hands and stared straight at his brother. "Memories are nothing but data. When you really think about it, it should be possible to artificially construct them."

"What are you saying, Al…?"

"You told me once that there was something you were too afraid to tell me. Maybe what you wanted to tell me was that my soul and my memories are all _fake _and that they were created artificially." Al paused to let the information sink in, and also to wait for an answer, but nothing came, and his voice rose once more. "Well, _Brother? _Can you _prove _that a person named Alphonse Elric really existed? Isn't it possible that Winry, Granny, and everyone else is _lying _to me? _Brother, _what do you have to say to _that?_"

There was a loud slam, and Delilah flinched, huddling close to Winry's backside.

"…You were keeping that bottled up inside this whole time?" Ed asked quietly, tensely. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Alphonse said nothing.

"…I see." A moment later, Ed walked out of the room, straight past all of them, and disappeared down the hallway.

Winry broke away from Delilah. "Ed…!" Seeing that he was gone, she opened up her toolbox and pulled out a long wrench; there was a murderous look in her eyes.

"YOU IDIOT!" she screeched at Al, clubbing him upside the head and causing his helmet to rattle. He fell to the ground.

"W-what're you _doing?" _he asked incredulously, his eyes wide.

Winry panted in her anger, and tears started to leak from her eyes. Alphonse showed shock, but without warning, she hit him again. "AL, YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! You don't have ANY IDEA how Ed feels, _do you? _The thing that Ed was too afraid to talk to you about…it was whether _you blame him for what happened!"_

She fell to her knees in front of him and began to hit him in the chest repeatedly, each blow weaker than the last. "He used to cry himself to sleep every night from the pain and fever because of his automail surgery." She let out a sob. "And then you went and _said _that…! What idiot would risk his own life to create a _fake _younger brother?!" She wiped away her tears. "All you guys have is each other."

Alphonse looked down, saying nothing.

Winry suddenly pointed out the door_. _"Go after him."

He hesitated. "U-um…okay." He stood and hurried out the door; as he passed, Delilah moved to make room for him, unconsciously trying to look as small as possible.

"YOU'D BETTER RUN!" Winry called, standing up and shaking a fist.

"Yes, ma'am!" Alphonse called nervously, quickening his pace and disappearing around the corner.

Winry sighed and wiped away the remainders of her tears. "I'm sure they'll make up, but…ugh, they're so stupid." Her voice was a bit raspy from her shouts. She noticed Delilah standing timidly next to the door, and her face softened. "Sorry you had to see them fight, Delilah. Are you okay?"

Delilah trembled. "I—I need to go to the bathroom," she blurted, turning and leaving the room, heading in the opposite direction that Alphonse had taken. It was also the opposite way from the bathrooms.

()()()()()

She somehow found a dark, quiet corner and sat on the floor, pulling her legs up to her chest and burying her face in her knees. She struggled not to sob, but her tears were already staining her dress.

She didn't know how long she sat there, her mind running through all of the reasons to cry, but eventually she heard a clanking sound coming from down the hall. Alphonse.

She hastily wiped her eyes and stood. She couldn't let anyone see her so broken—it would lead to questions, and she didn't want to think about what would happen if Envy found out that she had broken her promise. She glanced around and saw that a fire exit wasn't more than a few steps away; she opened the door and hurried through it onto the pavement outside.

"Delilah?" Alphonse called after her, and she could tell by his loud footsteps that he was speeding to catch up with her.

She ignored him and turned left, hurrying into an alley. All she could think of was the fact that she had to get away from the questions that would come, the decisions she would have to make—to lie or to tell the truth.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she nearly ran straight into the dead-end wall at the end of the alley. Only moments later, she heard Alphonse behind her.

"I'm so sorry I scared you," he apologized sincerely. "Winry told me what happened, and I knew it was my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry."

She touched the wall, trying to steady herself. "Y-you did," she admitted before adding quickly, "but I d-do not blame you. You were angry."

"No—you should," Alphonse insisted. He walked carefully up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It was wrong of me to yell like that; I scared all of you." He let out the slow sound of a sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised if you want to go home after this. You have to anyway, right?"

She felt cold. "Do you want me to go home?"

He shifted in surprise. "Of course not! You're my friend—Ed and Winry think of you as a friend, too. I just thought you were planning on going home after our research, and after this, I…" He trailed off.

She shook her head, recalling what she had wanted to ask the other day before Al had interrupted them. It was something that had been in the back of her mind since they had gotten to Central, but she had been too apprehensive to speak out. But now…it might be a way to keep them safe from Envy.

She turned around to face Alphonse, looking him straight in his red eyes, trying to ignore the fact that she herself probably looked very worse for wear. "W-would you and Edward teach me alchemy? I mean—can I go with you?"

His eyes widened. "What? Why? What about Marcoh?"

With the sound of the name, her worry over the man that had sheltered her for years spilled out of her, and she fell to her knees and began to sob.

* * *

_a/n: Told you shit would hit the fan. Angst, angst, and more angst. Oh and Elicia also turned three. c:_

_But yeah, I kinda rushed through the first part, but...eh. XD Oh well. What's important is that Ed and Al are all right again, and that Delilah is sobbing in front of Al. Poor guy, he probably thinks it's all because she's terrified of him, and she was for that moment (as much as I love Al (and I REALLY love him it's insane how obsessed I am), I would probably be scared shitless when he yelled like that). But anyway, she still wants to keep them safe from Envy's threat, and she asked Al to go with them to try and distract him from asking her anything that might lead to what happened, but he asked anyway. Whoopsie._

_Anyway, in the past 10 chapters, I've got 25 reviews. I know it's summer and my math is terrible during this time, but I think that's 2.5 reviews a chapter. THAT'S FREAKING INSANE FOR ME. I MEAN REALLY. AND YOU GUYS SEEM TO LIKE THIS A LOT. WHAT IS GOING ON FJKLA;FJA *flails*_

_Thank you for reading, and don't forget to leave a review~ They make me happy, like cats make Al happy. c:_


	12. Chapter 12

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, I only own my own OCs and this fic. I do have an FMA keychain, though._

* * *

Twelve

To say Alphonse was startled would be an understatement. He nearly panicked, but he managed to calm himself down; he had to stop her crying. But what was she crying about?

He knelt beside her. "Delilah? What's wrong? …Am I still scaring you? I-I can go get Winry…."

She shook her head. "N-no, no-nothing's wro—" She broke off, coughing slightly, and she rubbed at her eyes in a desperate attempt to pretend that they hadn't been there in the first place. Her head ached.

"Delilah, tell me what's wrong," he pleaded. When she didn't answer, he shifted nervously and began to stand. "I'll go get Win—"

She suddenly latched onto his hand, effectively stopping him. "N-no, stay," she gasped. "H-he said he would hurt us i-if I said anything."

Al's eyes widened, and he immediately knelt back down again, placing his free hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

She whimpered. "H-he said he would hurt you and Edward…."

"Listen, okay?" He tried to keep his voice soothing but also imperative. "I've told you before, Brother and I can take care of ourselves, and we won't let anything happen to you, okay? It's okay. Just tell me what happened."

She nodded, but tears kept falling from her eyes anyway. Her resolve in wanting to protect both herself and the brothers didn't break; instead, Alphonse's words gently struck something within her, causing her to open up. "I-I found out the d-doctor is missing, and h-he said they took him."

"'He'? Who are you talking about?"

She shuddered. "I-I think it was Envy."

He unintentionally tightened his grip on her shoulder. "Did he hurt you?"

She touched her cheek. "My skin. He cut it and made me heal it."

"Did he hurt you anywhere else? …Did he make you do anything?"

She shook her head. Unable to hold the rest of it in any longer, she told Alphonse about how she had discovered from the sheriff how Marcoh was missing. She hesitated at that point, but she also explained how Envy had threatened her if she told anyone, and about how he seemed angry that she was a "candidate."

"I was so scared," she sobbed. "I still feel like—like—"

"It's okay, Delilah," Alphonse soothed. "I'm glad you told me. We can protect you, okay? It'll be all right. Don't worry."

She suddenly latched onto him as if trying to hide herself under his massive chest, surprising him. "I-I want to feel safe again, Alphonse…."

After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her thin form, being careful not to apply too much pressure. "I'll make sure you will, okay? I promise. Let's go back inside for now. I can carry you in my armor, if you want some privacy, okay?"

She agreed, and he opened up his chest plate and helped her crawl inside. He closed himself, and once she assured him she was comfortable, he stood and left the alley, quietly opening the fire exit door and heading back to Ed's room. Delilah curled up inside his chest cavity, leaning her forehead against his cool stomach.

After making sure that Brosh and Ross knew that he didn't want him and Ed to be interrupted, Alphonse entered Ed's room and carefully closed the door behind him. The Fullmetal Alchemist was still seated in his bed, drawing some rather childlike figures onto some paper. He looked up.

"Hey, Al," he greeted. "I sent Winry to go get our tickets…. Where's Del?"

"Here," the younger Elric said, kneeling down and opening up his chest plate. Unprepared, Delilah slid out onto the floor somewhat gracelessly. Once she was out, Al closed himself again and helped her sit up.

To say Ed was perplexed would be an understatement. "What're you doing in there?"

"…Felt safer," she muttered, becoming a bit distant now that she was outside of Al's body.

Al saw this and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, okay? Brother and I are here, and the officers are still guarding us. You're safe."

"_What's _going on here?" Ed asked, both irritated at being out of the loop and concerned about Delilah's current state; she seemed mostly all right, but her eyes were red-rimmed and she looked tired.

"Envy threatened her just after Laboratory Five exploded," Al explained. "He said he would hurt her and us if she told anyone."

Ed's eyes widened. "What? But…why didn't Envy just kill you? Why threaten you?"

When it was apparent that she wasn't going to immediately respond, Alphonse spoke once again. "She found out Marcoh's missing."

"Missing?"

Delilah gripped the fabric of her dress, fisting it nervously. "H-he made it sound like they had him…and he said something about me being a 'candidate.'"

Though Ed was definitely serious at this point, his expression sobered even further. "That sounds just like why they let me live. 'Human sacrifice'…" He got out of bed and grabbed one of his papers before kneeling down and showing her his drawing of Envy. "Did he look like this?"

She nodded, involuntarily shuddering even though Ed's drawing skills could be viewed as something comical.

Ed frowned. "Did he hurt you?"

"I already asked," Alphonse said, knowing that the girl wouldn't want to relive the trauma of remembering what had happened. "He cut her cheeks and made her heal herself so no one could see, but she says he didn't do anything else."

Ed ran a hand through his bangs. "Are you sure Marcoh's missing?"

"No one has seen him since I left." Her breathing hitched. "All this time…" _I have been enjoying myself, and he has…_

"We'll do everything we can to find him, Delilah," Al told her.

"Judging by what they said, we're bound to run into them again," Ed said, standing. "Hopefully, we might be able to find something out then."

The thought of seeing Envy again filled her with terror, but she didn't make any sort of objections. She wanted to find Marcoh and make sure he was all right. But, with her being as small as she was, she wouldn't be able to do that by herself. She was weak; it was a fact that had never bothered her before, but now she could hardly stand it. "…Would it be all right if I traveled with you? I-I will try not to be a burden."

"You're not a burden," Al assured her. "You told me you wanted to learn more alchemy, right? I'll teach you. It'll be easy since you know the basics."

Ed scratched the back of his head. "Trouble seems to find us wherever we go, but I have to admit we should stick together, given the situation. You might not sleep if you stay here, knowing you," he tried to joke. "We're going to Dublith tomorrow, so be ready. And you're going to have to at least tell Hughes and the Major what happened."

"Okay." She had mostly managed to calm down at this point, but she was still extremely worried. However, she didn't want to keep being scared, so she tried to distract herself. "Why Dublith?"

"We decided that we need to go see our teacher," Al explained. "She taught us alchemy."

Ed twitched. "It might not be the best thing to bring her to see Teacher, on second thought…."

Al's body shuddered for a moment as well, but then he shook his head. "No, Teacher wouldn't…_seriously _hurt Delilah. So long as you stay on her good side, Delilah, you'll be fine."

She was unnerved, but she trusted the boys, so she agreed.

()()()()()

"I don't remember anything after this guy kicked me," Ed explained, holding up a picture of Envy to the Major and Hughes.

The Major crossed his arms. "Human souls trapped in artificial bodies, used as guards; "human sacrifice"; allowing you to live; an individual named Envy... Meanwhile, we have Dr. Marcoh creating a Stone for use in the Ishvalan War, and his disappearance..."

"Then there's the Ouroboros tattoo, and a transmutation circle for the Philosopher's Stone," Hughes added.

"There are too many mysteries for this to simply be an experiment to produce the Stone," said the Major.

"And the lab is a dead end because it's been reduced to a pile of rubble," Hughes mused. He turned to Delilah, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Are you sure he said nothing else?"

She nodded.

All four males pondered the information for a moment before Hughes picked up Ed's drawing of the Ouroboros tattoo. "We might be able to find something if we go through the criminal records at the Investigations Division."

The Major picked up a small stack of papers. "And I shall see if I can track down anyone who may have assisted Dr. Marcoh with his research. Miss, did the doctor ever happen to mention anyone at all?"

She shook her head, unable to recall even a mutter of a name. She was a bit unwilling to speak after explaining what had happened to her to the two men. If she would have had to say anything, she was saved by the sound of knocking, and she went to go open the door.

To say the entire group was surprised to see the Fuhrer of all people enter the room would be an understatement. "I hope I'm not interrupting?" he asked.

"F-Fuhrer King Bradley!" As one, the military boys snapped to attention and saluted, while Al and Delilah bowed.

"At ease," the Amestrian ruler said, waving a hand. "No need to make a fuss."

"Fuhrer Bradley, sir, what brings you here?" Hughes asked respectfully.

"Why, to visit the Fullmetal Alchemist, of course." He held out a basket to Ed. "Do you like melons?"

"Uh...thanks, sir." Ed accepted the gift, sweating nervously.

"I hear you've been doing quite a bit of snooping around Central Command, Major Armstrong."

The Major gave a start at the ruler's words, and he stuttered. "How...?"

"Don't underestimate my information network, Major. And _you_, Edward Elric...you're searching for the Philosopher's Stone, aren't you?" He leered at the boy, his voice suddenly becoming dark. "How much do you know? A great deal depends on your answer..."

A tense silence filled the air, and Delilah was about to reconsider her positive opinion of the Fuhrer before he suddenly laughed good-naturedly. "Just kidding! Don't be so uptight!"

The response was a confused one, but Hughes regained his senses first. "Delilah, maybe you should step outside for a moment," he advised.

She was about to comply when the Fuhrer held up his hand. "No worries. Any friend of the Fullmetal Alchemist is a friend of mine. And I'm sure she'll be able to keep quiet about the matters I wish to discuss with you."

In a more formal tone, he continued. "I know that there has been some suspicious activity going on in the military lately, and I want to do something about it." He picked up one of the stacks of papers that the Major had compiled and took a look through it. "I see this is a list of all the researchers who were involved with the Stone. You've done quite a job of finding all of these names. But you see, the whereabouts of all these individuals are currently unknown."

Dread settled in Delilah's stomach. Those people were missing as well? First Marcoh, and now them? Her nervousness at the information was reflected in Ed's eyes, as well as Hughes and the Major (she assumed Alphonse felt the same), but none of them said anything. No one wanted to explain that Marcoh had fled the military.

"They disappeared a few days before the explosion at Laboratory Five," the Fuhrer continued. "The enemy is always one step ahead of us. And presently, even with my vast information network, I don't know our enemy's motives…or the extent to which they have infiltrated the military."

"Sir…you're saying it could be dangerous to continue investigating?" Hughes clarified.

"Yup. But all of you—including you, young miss—I am going to give you a direct order, for your own safety. I will not allow you to speak of this to anyone or stick your neck in this matter any further! This is truly a case where you cannot tell friend from foe. _Trust no one. _You must be _discreet _in your actions and assume that the entire military is the enemy!

"However… When the time comes, I will call on you, so make sure you are prepared."

"Y-yes, sir!" Hughes and the Major stuttered, saluting along with Ed while Al and Delilah stood stiff, not knowing what to do.

_"Has anyone seen the Fuhrer? Fuhrer Bradley!"_

Bradley gave a start. "Oh, it's my pesky bodyguards!" Without further ado, he went to the window and opened it, giving them all a quick wave. "I slipped out earlier without them noticing. Now I must leave! Farewell." And then he hopped out the window onto the level ground and walked off.

After that, Delilah had no idea what to feel. Apparently, neither did anyone else.

At that moment, Winry came through the door. She quickly noticed the atmosphere. "What's wrong with you guys? Even the guards outside are acting weird."

"…Just a passing storm…," Ed muttered.

Winry was confused, but didn't question it. "I bought those train tickets you wanted," she said, holding up an envelope.

"Thanks," Ed said, perking up. "But you might have to go back later. Del's coming with us and needs a ticket."

"Why?" Winry hadn't been told about the Envy incident.

"Uh…" Ed scratched his head.

Seeing that he still didn't want to have Winry worrying over them, Delilah piped up. "They are going to teach me more about alchemy." She felt bad at keeping the truth from Winry, but she honestly didn't want to even think about the experience anymore, much less talk about it. She also silently agreed with Edward in not wanting Winry to fret.

"Oh, really?" Winry smiled at the younger girl, probably remembering their conversation the night before, about how Delilah hadn't wanted to go home. "That's good!"

"Where are you going this time?" Hughes asked, taking the envelope from Winry and pulling out the tickets. "Dublith?"

"Where's that?" Winry asked.

Alphonse pulled out a map and pointed to the southern area of Amestris. "Here," he said, pointing.

Winry peered at the map and suddenly screamed, causing everyone present to give a start. "Right before Dublith! _Rush Valley! _The automail engineers' _mecca_! I've ALWAYS wanted to go there!" She rounded on Edward and flailed excitedly. "Take me, take me, TAKE ME!"

Ed huffed. "Go by yourself."

"WHO'S GONNA PAY FOR MY TRAVEL EXPENSES?"

"ARE YOU PLANNING ON MOOCHING OFF ME?"

"Hey, what's the problem?" Al interrupted. "It's on the way there."

"…All right," Ed relented.

Winry cheered and rushed out the door. "I'm gonna call Granny!"

"She sure is _energetic,_" Al commented.

"She would make _someone _a great wife," Hughes added. "Not as great as my wife, of course."

Ed twitched violently. "DON'T TELL ME THAT! AND QUIT BRAGGING!"

Delilah only found herself smiling, grateful for the fact that she didn't have to say goodbye to Winry just yet.

()()()()()

That night, Hughes offered his house to Winry and Delilah, and he kindly accepted the latter's refusal (though Winry, left out of the loop, was a tad confused, but didn't question it). He and Winry bade them goodnight, and they left to drop by the train station to buy tickets for the girls before they headed back to the Hughes household.

"…Uh, do you want the bed, and I can take the cot?" Ed asked (at Al's insistence), referring to the extremely uncomfortable mobile mattress that the nurse had brought them.

Delilah shook her head. "I will be fine. Thank you."

Ed shrugged in exasperation at a look from Alphonse and crawled into his bed. "Fine by me, I guess. You took your medicine, right?" he asked, slightly stern.

"You saw me take it," she replied, laying on her cot and trying to ignore how lumpy it was.

"Just checking. Well, goodnight, Del, Al." He turned off the light and lay down completely.

"Goodnight, Brother," Al wished. "Goodnight, Delilah."

"Goodnight." She pulled the covers nearly all the way up to her face.

Alphonse sat on his stood and stayed silent while Ed quickly fell asleep. Delilah felt incredibly tired from her lack of sleep over the past few days and her excessive crying. But, despite how the day had turned out to be a better one than it had started out as, the fact that she had broken her word to Envy weighed heavily on her mind, and nerves clawed at her stomach. Whenever she was anywhere close to unconsciousness, the thought of Envy coming in to attack them made her jerk awake.

"…Alphonse?" she whispered. For a moment she thought he hadn't heard her, but then he replied quietly.

"Are you having nightmares?"

"No. Hard to sleep." She paused and shifted slightly, drawing her knees closer to her chest. "…May I…" Normally, she would've asked the question bluntly, but part of her was still getting used to the fact that she had actually _told _the brothers what had happened to her, and asking her question would've aroused their suspicion if this moment had been a day before.

He tipped his head. "What?"

"May I sleep in your chest?"

He jerked in surprise. "W-why?"

"It feels safer in you."

Alphonse was silent for a few seconds, and she was prepared to stay on her cot for the rest of the night when he said, "Grab your blanket. It might get cold in my body."

She nodded and stood, gathering the sheet into her arms while Al slowly sat on the floor and opened his chest plate. Delilah crawled inside and wrapped the sheet around her as he closed himself up.

"Just be careful of my blood seal," he reminded her, even though she would have to reach up to touch it.

She found it interesting to hear his voice reverberate around her, inside him.

"Of course." She leaned her head against him; already, she felt much calmer, soothed by the cool, closed space. A few minutes later she succumbed to sleep.

* * *

_a/n: I piled on the AlxDel fluff because YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING AWESOME. I got SIX reviews since the last chapter. Seriously, you guys. You guys are freaking awesome and deserve medals. Or at least all the fic I can give you. Omfg. I just. I can't. Feels, man. Feels. *gives you guys brofists*_

_All that aside, the fluff serves a point later, or at least it should. Things you can probably take note from in this chapter are 1) Del said what happened! 2) Al promised to make her feel safe, 3) oh hey the Fuhrer was here, 4) we're probably never going to see Hughes again *cries a river*, 5) they're gonna go to Rush Valley~, and 6) DEL'S SLEEPING WITH AL *shot*_

_I was asked about what plot this follows, and I wanted to point out again that this is the manga version (which I haven't read completely, by the way, not even close, but since it's so close to Brotherhood I think I'm good?). This means that, yes, we will see May. I like May as a character (sometimes she's a bit...much, I guess you could say), but honestly I have trouble accepting AlxMay because I'm a jealous person that can't accept the fact that Al is fictional (*sobs in a corner*). But just because I don't like the pairing doesn't mean I'm going to bash May, because she doesn't deserve that, nor does any character for any shipping reasons. When we do finally get to her, I'll do my absolute best to keep her in character and not make her seem like...idk. Evil._

_But anyway, I have work in 11 hours and I haven't gone to sleep yet. XD;; and it takes me forever to fall asleep *slumps* Please drop a review on your way out~ (I seriously do love you all, btw. Seriously.)_


	13. Chapter 13

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this fic. Yay._

* * *

Thirteen

Alphonse had carried small animals and a few people inside him, but no one had ever slept in him before. He couldn't feel Delilah inside him, of course, but he felt acutely aware of the fact that she was there. He couldn't see her, but he could hear her quiet, measured breathing echo through his hollow body.

He was unused to this, and he worried about waking her. Normally, he didn't move any part of himself at night (unless he was reading), but since he was so anxious about stirring her, he was convinced that he would be twitching if he were in his real body. But then again, if he were in his real body, he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

And so, the hours passed slowly as they always did. As he waited for the world to wake up, he wondered, not for the first time, what sort of mess he and his brother had gotten themselves into this time. _Marcoh and the Philosopher's Stone, not to mention the doctor's disappearance and the whole incident at Laboratory Five…_

He also thought about the girl sleeping inside him. What had she been thinking for the entire time since that night? She had become so tired, worn, and scared…how could he not have noticed? And he had also frightened her. Even if she didn't blame him, he still felt guilty. She was just so…tiny and fragile, and inexperienced with the world, even though she had gone through what many hadn't. But still, she had seemed as equally concerned about him and Edward as she had been about herself.

And that fact made Alphonse feel…happy, in a way. It meant she cared, like when Granny Pinako and Winry worried about them. Of course, he wasn't the least bit pleased with _why _she was anxious about them. After all, in order to even feel safe enough to sleep, she had to sleep inside his chest.

The fact that she trusted him so much already made him feel glad as well.

He remembered how he had promised to make her feel safe, and it was a vow that he didn't have to think twice about. He may not have known her for long, but they were friends, and he trusted her.

()()()()()

Ed woke not long after sunrise. He blearily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched his arms. Once he gained enough sense, he looked around the room.

"`Morning, Al," he yawned. He blinked. "Where's Del?"

Not wanting to wake her with his voice, Al pointed to his chest.

Ed stared stupidly at him for a moment before a sly look transformed his features. "I'm used to you sneaking cats around, but I didn't expect you to want to hide girls, too."

His teasing would've caused Al to blush if he had a body able to do so. "Brother, she couldn't sleep," he hissed. "She asked to."

Ed's entire being seemed to be made only of mirth. "You _sure _you didn't do anything to get her in there?"

Al was a bit miffed at the thought that he would even _try _to do anything like that. But in any case, he didn't want Ed to start mocking Delilah too, so he explained, "She didn't feel safe, Brother."

This seemed to sober Ed up some. "Well…we'll just have to toughen her up a bit, if she wants to go with us. You should prob'ly wake her up now; our train leaves early."

As much as Al wanted to, he couldn't argue with Ed's statement. He pushed the thought aside for now and looked down at his chest, even though he couldn't see her. "Delilah? It's time to get up. Delilah?"

()()()()()

Blearily, Delilah opened her eyes. It took her a moment to register the fact that Alphonse's voice was reverberating more than usual. After a few seconds, she remembered why.

"Is it morning?" she asked, sitting up.

"Ah, you're up!" Al replied cheerily. "Yep. We have to catch our train soon though. I'm going to let you out, okay?"

She nodded. Belatedly realizing that he couldn't see her, she voiced her affirmation and he opened up his chest. Since she was prepared for it this time, she managed to slide out with a little more dignity than the day before.

"Did you sleep well?" Al asked her.

"Yes. Thank you." She pulled her blanket out of his chest and placed it on the cot, but not before folding it. Al closed himself up.

"You might wanna take a shower before we leave, Del," Ed warned, pulling his clothes out of his suitcase. "It'll take about a day to get to Rush Valley, and I dunno what place we'll be staying at there…as if I want to," he added mutinously, grumbling about a certain "gearhead" and her "annoying automail obsession."

Delilah readily agreed and grabbed her briefcase, heading into the bathroom. While she showered, it was easy for her to think about how much had happened to her in such a short time. Her encounter with Envy felt like had happened merely yesterday, but thankfully, she no longer felt completely overwhelmed by it. She knew she had Alphonse and Edward to thank for that, and she was grateful to them.

When she finished, she dressed quickly and left the bathroom, allowing Ed to have his turn. While waiting for him to finish, she pulled out her hairbrush and ran it through her wet hair with careful, deliberate strokes. She was silent, thinking about how she was actually going to travel now, with Edward and Alphonse and Winry.

It was a relief to finally be able to think about something positive for once, but she was determined to find Marcoh and to better herself in order to do so…and, if at all possible, help Ed and Al return to their original bodies.

()()()()()

The teenagers were seen off at the station by the Major, Ross, Brosh, and Gracia and Elicia Hughes (Maes was too busy at his office to come, but sent word with Winry that he would do everything in his power to greet them at the station when they next came to Central). The train ride to Rush Valley was scheduled to take a whole day, so Mrs. Hughes gave gifts to the girls she had temporarily housed so that the time might go by a bit faster. To Winry, she gave an apple pie; and to Delilah, she passed along a book from Sheska. It was one of the medical textbooks that the young girl had ogled at when visiting the bookworm.

An equally important gift came in the form of hugs from Elicia, to all of them (although she seemed to hug Winry for the longest time and Ed for the shortest). The Major also gave them all one massive hug, but somehow it just didn't invoke the same feeling.

Finally, the four boarded the train and managed to find a comfortable enough spot to spend the ride. When they were well on their way, Edward peered at Delilah's new book. "_A Detailed Description of the Human Body_'? I know you're smart and all, Del, but that looks pretty thick."

"But it is important to know it for alchemy, right?"

The boy shrugged. "It's good to know what the body is made of and how things are supposed to work, but Al and I never really went much farther than that."

"The doctor's an alchemist, right?" Winry asked Delilah. "Is that why you're one, too?"

The mention of Marcoh distracted Delilah for a second. "I have never really thought about it before," she realized aloud. "I supposed so. I have always been reading his medical books and assisting him. I am not well-practiced, and since he is…not here to teach me, I should read as much as I can about the medical field so I may figure out more on medicinal alchemy for myself." She looked to the Elric brothers. "At least I have you two to teach me."

Al scratched his helmet in an embarrassed fashion. Ed made a smug face, and at this Winry suddenly began laughing. Ed pouted.

"What's _that_ for, Winry?"

"Ed…being a teacher…" She laughed a bit more. "Aren't teachers supposed to be patient or something?"

A vein twitched in Ed's forehead. "Of _course _I'll be a great, patient teacher! Just watch me!" He suddenly pointed at Delilah. "What you need is practice, so get practicing!"

"Don't just yell—" Winry began, but Delilah accidentally spoke over her.

"With what, Teacher?"

Alphonse and Winry just about fell over, but Edward only seemed pleased at such an important title. He looked around their small space, but there wasn't much to transmute, unless they wanted to risk damaging the train and getting in trouble.

"Your book," he said, shrugging.

The idea horrified her and she hugged the book to her chest. "No! What if I mutilate it?"

"You're an alchemist; you should be able to fix it."

She shook her head. "I will not."

"But I'm your teacher!" Ed protested. "You should—"

Winry suddenly hit him with her wrench. "Come on, Ed, stop it."

Ed managed to recover a second later, and unsurprisingly, he began a shouting match with the other blonde.

Alphonse held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Please stop fighting, you two…."

Winry managed to relax first, leaning back a bit in her seat. "So what made you guys want to go see your teacher all of a sudden?" she asked.

Edward calmed as well, though he still seemed a bit uptight about it all. "Two reasons." He held up a gloved finger. "First of all, to get stronger. I've been losing too many fights lately."

Winry twitched. "_Huh?!_ You're going there to get better at fighting? Are you obsessed with that or something?"

"Shut up!" Ed snapped. "My reasons aren't that simple. I dunno how to explain it, but Al and I wanted to get stronger on the _inside_ too. I wanna get way better at fighting."

"Yup!" Al agreed. "I just know we're going to get stronger if we go to Teacher's place!"

Delilah looked at the boys curiously. "What is the second reason?"

Ed grew serious. "I want to ask Teacher about human transmutation." He leaned his head on his hand. "The whole time we trained together, our teacher never taught us anything about the Philosopher's Stone or human transmutation."

"Yeah," Al put in. "And the closer we get to the Philosopher's Stone, the more dangerous it gets. So we thought the best thing to do would be to just ask Teacher directly about whether there's a way to get our original bodies back."

Ed's face twisted into a determined frown and he grit his teeth. "We can't afford to be timid anymore. We have to go ahead and ask her, even if it means that we might get killed."

He paused. "Get killed…" He suddenly slumped, depressed. "We had pretty short lives, didn't we, Al…?"

"I wish I could have at least gotten myself a girlfriend before I died," the younger brother lamented, somehow managing to look just as miserable as Edward.

Winry, not knowing how to react to the situation, exchanged a glance with Delilah, who didn't quite know what to do either. In a stroke of inspiration, Winry pulled out the apple pie that Gracia had given her.

"This should cheer you up," she said, opening the box. "Mrs. Hughes made enough for three people."

Edward greedily grabbed a piece and bit into it hungrily, while Winry and Delilah were a bit more polite in taking their food. Delilah had actually only had pie on a small number of occasions, and they usually were made by Marcoh's grateful patients. However, none of those could even compare to the taste of Gracia's job.

"Mrs. Hughes is a really good cook," Winry explained when Edward voiced his positive opinion on the pie. "She taught me the recipe, so I'll make it for you when you get your original body back, Al."

Alphonse cheered happily.

"The Hugheses are a really nice family, aren't they, Delilah?" Winry went on. The younger girl nodded earnestly.

"Lieutenant Color Hughes, _nice?" _Edward scoffed. "More like _smothery. _I didn't ask 'Super Dad' to follow me around all the time."

Alphonse laughed. "He used to come to your hospital room all the time just to talk to you."

Edward's tone grew a bit softer. "Well, yeah. He would always say how busy things were at work, but he still made time to visit me every day. I gotta do something nice for him the next time we go to Central…."

The conversation faded for a little bit after that as they ate. Delilah was hardly able to finish her slice of pie, it was so large.

Alphonse stared out the window, seeming to think about something or other. When Delilah was done eating, he turned to her. "I think I know how to start teaching you."

Edward glanced over curiously. "How?"

"'All is one, and one is all.' You should try to figure out what that means, Delilah. When we first started training with our teacher, she stuck us out on an island in the middle of a lake for a month to try to understand what that meant, but I don't think we'll do that with you." He laughed a little.

Delilah cocked her head. "'All is one, and one is all.'" She paused. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and stared at her lap, frowning. She became lost in deep thought.

* * *

_a/n: Filler. Sorry. D8 But there was AlxDel fluff up there kf;ajdkj;fka yay. Anyway, I can't really have a long a/n today, I have to leave for work really soon. *sighs*_

_Thank you all very, very much for your reviews/favorites/follows, they really, really do mean a lot to me, and I hope you continue to do so. *hugs for all*_


	14. Chapter 14

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA and I'm tired of saying that. Maybe I'll just not say it for the rest of the fic and have this be the disclaimer for the rest of the fic? Idk. All I know is, is that Del and all my OCs are mine, but all the canon characters aren't. Yup._

* * *

Fourteen

The first thing that Delilah managed to do in Rush Valley was get lost.

On any other day, she would've tagged right along with Winry to look at all of the automail (of course, she wouldn't have the same gusto about everything like the mechanic did). However, Delilah's mind was still stuck on her first task from her teachers—to figure out the phrase, "All is one, and one is all"—and she had ended up wandering in what she supposed was the opposite direction the others had taken. She couldn't be sure, though, because the thick crowds kept her from being able to see even Alphonse's tall figure.

Rush Valley was a hot place. Unlike Central, which had cool, pleasant breezes, the air was dry and left her feeling thirsty. The weather wasn't so hot that it negatively affected everyone with automail—the heat wasn't as bad as it could be in, say, the desert. In fact, the warmth seemed to attract a wide variety of those people both with automail limbs and without, and everyone scurried about among the wooden and mud-made buildings.

She was jostled a bit, and she put a hand on her hat to keep it from falling off. _Perhaps it would be best if I went back to the hotel, _she mused, but she couldn't remember which way that was. Having a plan of action kept her from worrying; so long as she was able to keep the goal of getting to the hotel in mind, she wouldn't start thinking up terrifying probabilities of what had happened to the others (namely, she didn't want to think that Envy was in Rush Valley, too).

After asking directions from a rather nice-looking shopkeeper, she headed south, keeping an eye out for the general store. Once there, she glanced around, trying to remember if the man had told her to take a right of a left—

"Delilah!" Out of nowhere, Alphonse appeared, brandishing a piece of chalk as he rushed up to her. "Where have you been?" he fretted. "I was worried!"

Delilah felt immensely relieved, and she relaxed the muscles that she hadn't noticed were tensed. "I got lost," she admitted. "I am glad I found you."

"Brother went into this crowd to take on an arm wrestler, and I was so distracted that I didn't realize you were gone for a while. I'm sorry."

"No harm done," she replied, lightly smiling at him. She knew that he wouldn't have let her get lost on purpose.

"Oh, there you are, Delilah," Winry said, hurrying up behind Alphonse. She smiled warmly at the younger girl. "We were going to look for you, but Ed pulled us along in trying to find some pickpocket who stole his watch. He's still chasing after her. Some girl named Paninya, I think."

Delilah tipped her head. "His watch?"

Alphonse laughed a little. "Some people stripped Brother down to his boxers so they could see his automail, and Paninya stole it."

"He obviously isn't very happy about it," Winry added.

"I can imagine." Delilah took note of the chalk in Al's hand. "Are you drawing a transmutation circle?"

"Oh, I need to finish," he realized, now sounding pressed for time. "Mind giving me a hand?"

She agreed, taking the chalk from her dress pocket and hurrying to help him draw the rather large circle. "What is this for?" she asked when they were finished.

"Just trying to help Brother out," was all Al said on the matter.

Delilah dusted her hands off on her dress. "So where is Edward now?"

Al pointed, and Winry handed over a spyglass that the younger Elric probably transmuted. Before Delilah even had a chance to look, the sound of a scuffle distracted her to glance at the roof of the general store in time to see the light of a transmutation fade. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly there was a very loud crash and a few seconds later, a brown-skinned teen emerged from the shop, whistling innocently. Lost in her carefree ways, she managed to walk right into the center of Al's transmutation circle without noticing.

"I've been waiting for you," Alphonse told her, activating the circle. Tendrils of the ground rose up around the girl—presumably Paninya—in the shape of a large cage, effectively trapping her.

Delilah had seen the boys transmute before, but never something so big. "Amazing," she breathed. She might be able to do it, but definitely not as quickly as he had, nor would she made it look as elegant.

"Ah…it's nothing," Alphonse replied.

Winry lightly elbowed him in the chest. "Of course it is."

Edward suddenly slammed open the door of the general store and marched out toward the cage. He was chuckling evilly. "Now you'll pay, woman!"

Alphonse's mood plummeted. "Brother, you're talking just like a bad guy!"

Paninya tapped at the cage, ignoring the brothers. She grinned. "Take a step back if you don't wanna get hurt," she warned Ed before suddenly making a kicking motion. There was a glint as a blade erupted from her shin, cutting the bars of the cage and setting her free.

Delilah was startled, but her reaction was nothing compared to the sudden jerk that Winry made.

"Automail…"

"What're you staring at?" Paninya asked smugly. "This is Rush Valley, remember? By the way," she went on, lifting the knee of her other leg, "this one has a 1.5-inch carbine in it."

Something shot out of her knee. Delilah let out an "eep!" and ducked behind Alphonse, but luckily Paninya didn't seem to be aiming at any of them.

The force of the blast caused Ed to fall flat on his back. His eyes widened considerably. "Both her legs are automail and she's that coordinated?"

Delilah peeked out from behind Alphonse. "Really?"

Paninya ignored their conversation and started to run away. Ed scrambled to his feet and shouted, but before he could really do anything, Winry reached out and grabbed Paninya by the wrist.

"I'm not letting you get away," Winry said darkly before her expression suddenly lit up. "Not until you let me get a good look at that automail up close."

Ed and Al fell over.

()()()()()

Apparently, Ed had caused a lot of damage to the town, so the citizens quickly came to drag him off to fix all of it. Delilah wanted to help, but Alphonse stopped her and said that Ed needed to learn his lesson. While he was gone, Paninya and Winry made a deal: the pickpocket would lead them into the mountains to get to her automail outfitter (since Winry was adamant about meeting him), and once there she would give back Ed's watch and be let off the hook for the trouble.

Ed was not happy when he learned of this deal, but as Alphonse pointed out, he had little say in this matter.

That was how the five of them found themselves walking down a mountain path, the sun beaming down relentlessly. Thankfully, they had decided to leave their luggage back at the hotel, and therefore no one had to carry anything; the heat itself was just barely manageable, and lugging around things could have been suicide.

"Why does your engineer live out in the middle of nowhere?" Delilah asked between pants, genuinely curious.

"He says he can find better ore this far out," Paninya replied. "Well, and he also didn't want to live in town. Too many people. He's not what you'd call the friendly sort."

"_Will you just give me back my watch already_?"

"We made a deal, remember?" Paninya said in a sing-song voice. "I guide you to the engineer and you let me off the hook. I'm keeping this watch hostage until then!"

"_I'm_ not the one who made a deal with you," Ed grumbled.

Luckily, it wasn't much longer before they came into sight of a house built into the face of a cliff. Paninya happily marched right up and barged in, calling out a greeting and introducing everyone to each other. Dominic LeCourt, who was busy working in another room, was the one who made Paninya's automail. His son, Ridel, also made automail, and his wife, Satera, took care of the household chores. It was obvious that she was heavily pregnant.

"Would you like to join us for tea?" she invited.

They all readily agreed, and Delilah helped the woman deliver the tea outside to the plain table where Dominic, Winry, and Paninya sat and talked about automail (although the only person there with metal limbs seemed pretty uninterested in the conversation). Delilah was about to head back inside to help get more cups when Satera heavily sat down in a nearby chair.

"Are you all right, Mrs. LeCourt?" she asked, seeing the slight discomfort on the woman's face.

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied as Ridel hurried over. "I'm just pregnant, that's all. It's so heavy that I'm always tired."

"A baby?" Ed asked, as if he hadn't seen the woman's enlarged stomach. "Congratulations!"

"That's amazing," Alphonse put in.

"The baby's due in about two weeks," Ridel informed them, looking proud.

"Can I feel your tummy?" Ed asked excitedly, sounding as if he were ten instead of fifteen.

Satera smiled. "Go ahead. You all can."

Alphonse understandably stood back a little as Ed and Delilah each put a hand on Satera's hard, round stomach. Hardly a few seconds later, Delilah felt something.

She blinked in surprise. "I think it kicked me."

"Aw, you're lucky," Ed said, pulling away from Satera and smiling. "That's cool. That's the first time I've touched a pregnant lady's tummy."

"To think we were inside Mom's body like that too," Alphonse said, awed.

Ed chuckled. "Kinda weird, huh?"

"I know." Satera placed her hands over her stomach as Delilah pulled away. "It's even strange to think there's another life in me."

"A baby spends roughly two hundred days inside its mother before being born," said Ridel, and Delilah found herself nodding, having read that as well.

"Giving birth is truly a miraculous thing," Satera added. "No one has to tell the baby anything—after two hundred days, it just knows that it's time to come out. Even though its never been outside the womb, it just knows."

"Amazing," Delilah breathed, fascinated.

Satera smiled at her. "Perhaps one day you'll have a child too."

Delilah stared at her. "Me?"

The woman chuckled. "Not for a while, of course. Ridel and I always wanted one, but we weren't exactly planning. You never know."

"No one would want to have a child with me," Delilah replied, trying to sound modest. However, her voice came out rather flat.

The males didn't quite know how to react to that, but Satera seemed to understand perfectly. "That's what I thought, too."

()()()()()

Delilah decided to give Satera a hand in the kitchen while Winry showed Dominic Edward's automail (much to the displeasure of the alchemist). After only being at the house for a few hours, Delilah decided that she liked the woman and wanted to help her with whatever she could since Satera was so heavily pregnant.

"We're hoping it's a boy," Satera was saying as she washed the dishes, handing them to Delilah to dry. "Even after all this time, we're not quite sure what to name him yet. Or her."

Delilah took her time to dry the dishes. "What does it feel like?" She had been around pregnant people before back home, but she had always made them uncomfortable, so she wanted to take the opportunity to ask all that she could from Satera.

The woman smiled softly. "At first I didn't feel much coming from the baby. But it kicks me every once in a while. Sometimes it hurts, but not usually. And now he usually sits right on my bladder, and that's not very fun. But honestly…I've never felt happier."

Delilah stared at her hands as she worked. "It takes a lot of work to raise a baby, right?"

"Of course. I don't know if Ridel and I will ever be one hundred-percent ready, but we'll do our best and we'll always try to support it in whatever decisions it wants to make."

Delilah felt a twinge of relief for the child, but also a speck of jealousy. She willed the latter emotion away quickly. She opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance.

Satera suddenly gasped, dropping her dishes in the sink with a loud clatter. She clutched at her stomach, an intense pain on her face.

"M-Mrs. LeCourt! Are you all right?" Delilah let go of what she was doing and put a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"T-the…"

By chance, Winry chose that moment to come into the room. Delilah looked to her for help, and the older girl immediately saw that something was wrong. Quickly, she called for Ridel while Delilah helped Satera sit in a nearby chair.

Ridel rushed over. "Satera? What's wrong?"

A morbid, pained expression transformed the woman's face. "The baby's coming."

Ridel stuttered protests about how the baby wasn't supposed to come for several days, but Satera pointed out how that didn't matter since it was coming _now. _Dominic burst into the room, followed by Ed, Al, and Paninya; upon seeing the situation, mass hysteria broke out as they all ran in separate directions, not having any clue what to do.

"We have to get her to the hospital!" Ridel insisted.

Dominic took one look outside; the hot weather had transformed into a thunderstorm in a matter of hours. "I'll ride into town and get the doctor. She can't go anywhere." With haste, he grabbed his raincoat and rushed out to the barn where they kept the horse.

"We need to get her to a bed," Winry said nervously. Al managed to gain enough sense to help Ridel carry Satera to a bedroom and place her on the mattress.

While they did that, Delilah tried to remember what Marcoh had done back home during the few times she had helped him around pregnant women. She searched the bathroom for towels; she ending up throwing the larger ones on the floor in her haste until she found smaller cloths; she wet several of them and wrung them out before hurrying back to the bedroom. She was stopped when Ed, Al, and Winry rushed past her, explaining that the bridge was out and Dominic needed their help.

"Good luck!" Delilah called after a moment before hurrying into the bedroom and putting one of the compresses on Satera's forehead. "I wish I could make you feel more comfortable," she said, noticing how Satera was wincing in pain.

Paninya looked horrified; the girl was standing by the wall, as if she wanted to be as far away from the whole situation as possible. "T-the sheets are getting wet."

Delilah saw that she was right, and she didn't have to guess twice where the liquid was coming from. "Please get another sheet," she asked Paninya, and the girl scampered off. Delilah's tone had become distant once more as she recalled what she was supposed to do, but Paninya seemed grateful to have orders. Delilah instructed Ridel to help Satera lift her dress away from her hips and to take off her underwear. Paninya came back and helped Delilah drape the sheet over Satera's legs for privacy. All the while, Satera moaned in pain.

Ed, Al, and Winry came back several minutes later, soaked by the rain. Delilah went out to meet them at the doorway to the bedroom, and Ed suddenly clung to her arm, his golden eyes wide. "Dominic has to go the long way around. _Please_ tell me you know what to do."

The pressure of being relied upon weighed her mind, and she replied carefully. "I have not been present at any births, but I have helped prepare, and I have read about it."

Paninya peeked out of the room. "You never told me why there was so much water." Her eyes were wide with panic. "Why was there so much water?"

Winry's face well. "That means the baby's ready to be born."

Delilah looked to Winry (everyone else had fallen back into frenzy). "Do you know anything about this?"

The blonde nodded nervously. "I've read some of my parents' textbooks. I don't remember much, but…"

A loud moan from the bedroom interrupted her, and Delilah glanced inside. "Can you get everyone to get what we need?"

"R-right," Winry stuttered, but her expression turned serious. She was about to start barking orders when Ed and Al stopped her.

"You guys can do this," they both said.

Winry was surprised, but a determined expression settled across her features. Delilah could only nod and say, "I hope you are right."

()()()()()

Delilah wasn't sure who helped Satera more: herself or Winry. She supposed it was equal. Watching the miracle of life was both "miraculous" and disgusting, but thanks to having seen a fair number of diagrams in textbooks, Delilah was probably a bit more prepared than Winry was, honestly.

Still, Delilah didn't know if she had ever felt so tired in her life. She felt lucky to have had Paninya and Winry there with her, and to have had Ed and Al provide some of the things they needed (like boiling water and rubbing alcohol). Somehow, after all those hours of pain and screaming, Satera LeCourt had safely given birth to a healthy baby boy, and all was well, at least until a trained doctor came back with Dominic.

Winry and Delilah instructed Ridel to wash the baby, and it was at this point that Ed and Al came in and cheered excitedly. Their enthusiasm somehow made Delilah feel a little less tired. Satera and Ridel also voiced their thanks to the young girls, and though Delilah felt that Winry deserved a large portion of the gratitude due to her skill at giving orders, Delilah couldn't help but feel a bit of…pride.

She felt…important. And helpful.

After the height of the excitement was over and Ed, Winry, and Paninya had left the room, Delilah took it upon herself to help clean up the blood off Satera's legs while Ridel and Alphonse doted on the baby. While she was working, the new mother expressed her thanks once more.

Delilah smiled at her, unaware of the fact that there was a smear of blood on her cheek. "I am just glad that you and the baby are all right. And that I had Winry and Paninya to help me…." She glanced to where Paninya was collapsed in the doorway. "…Well, Winry was the bigger help."

"Like Brother said, I think it's amazing that you were able to bring life into this world," Alphonse commented, still awed.

Ridel smiled. "It feels amazing. I mean, we've changed the world a little bit, just by adding this little one into it."

Delilah froze, although no one noticed, as she was done cleaning Satera and the baby was taking up all the attention, including hers. The baby let out a small cry, and she noticed how the action was both important and…insignificant at the same time.

_All is one, and one is all, _she thought; it was the only topic that had stuck in her mind since she had first been introduced to it, and she had questioned it that entire train ride, that entire time they were in Rush Valley._ Like Alphonse said…and that means…_

She felt humbled at her epiphany, but now that she knew it, she wondered how she had been stumped in the first place. This, along with the relief from the stress of the past few hours, made her laugh.

Satera and Ridel were a bit too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice, but Alphonse looked back at her, a question in his red eyes.

"Alphonse," she said, the laughter still pervading her voice, and at this he came closer to her. She smiled, her blue eyes alight and completely and utterly _present _with the world. She pointed to the baby. "He is one, and all." She pointed to herself. "I am one, and all." She pointed to him. "You are, too. And we are insignificant compared to the universe, but we are still a part of it, no matter what. This baby is going to benefit from the world and the world will benefit from him, just like the rest of us. But in the end, he is small, and I am small, and you are small…. This understanding…is how we deconstruct and reconstruct, isn't it?"

Her mind was spinning with the information, but somehow it rooted her to reality rather than her thoughts, and she suddenly discovered a newfound fascination with the world around her.

Alphonse would've smiled at her if he could. "There's still a lot more, but you're right."

She laughed again and wiped some sweat off her forehead. "I suppose I passed the first test, Teacher?"

He chuckled. "No need to call me that. And I guess you did."

* * *

_a/n: Last chapter was short and filler so I went ahead and made this part as "original" as I could. I hope you enjoyed~ Anyway, I think updates might come slower now, I have to get ready for school, it starts next week. Ugh._

_I would really, really appreciate some reviews. 8D I mean, I love you, so why wouldn't you love me back? /ignore my shameless asking, it's 1am and I'm tireddddd. XD_


	15. Chapter 15

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA. I only own my own OCs. Oh, didn't I say once that I didn't want to write these anymore? I forget._

* * *

Fifteen

Ridel guessed that Dominic wouldn't be back until dawn, so he tasked Paninya with showing the guests to the cot room where automail patients stayed. There was enough room in there for all of them to sleep. And after the excitement of the day, Winry and Paninya merely crawled into the closest beds and fell asleep. Delilah was a bit slower to move; she was tired, but at the same time her mind was buzzing from what she had learned.

"Goodnight," Al wished as he followed Ed to the other end of the room. Ed was too busy yawning to say anything.

Delilah replied in kind and got into the empty bed beside Winry's. She put her head down on the pillow, but she simply stared up at the ceiling instead of closing her eyes. She could hardly hear the others snore over the sound of the storm outside. While Satera had been giving birth there had been claps of thunder, but now the only sounds were of the downpour and the wind, which was still nigh-on deafening.

She was unaware of how much time went by before she realized that she wasn't sleeping, and that there was a very specific reason for why she wasn't: she hadn't taken her medicine. And she hadn't taken her medicine because she had left it in her briefcase, which was back at the hotel.

Another reason was that she had to pee rather badly.

Quietly, she stood and took little time to exit the room and close the door behind her before she journeyed to find the bathroom. When she was done relieving herself, she happened to glance in the mirror and notice that she had neglected to clean up her own body after Satera had given birth. Her face was grimy with sweat and she had a smear of blood on her cheek. She took the time to wash her face in the sink and then emerged out into the hallway. She was about to go back to the patient room—though she highly doubted she would be able to fall asleep—when she heard a sound coming from Satera's room down the hall. Curious, Delilah padded to the doorway and peeked in through the crack in the door.

Satera was fast asleep in her bed, looking exhausted but peaceful all the same. Ridel was still awake, apparently, and was holding the baby carefully in his arms. The man was smiling at the soft noises that the baby emitted.

For a brief moment, Delilah was jealous of the child, but then she smiled, happy that these people were obviously elated at having brought life into the world. She couldn't help but feel proud that she, along with Winry, had been a help to them. Seeing the baby being so well-cared-for already instilled a warm, mothering instinct in her, and she remembered Satera's words about how the woman had once never thought a man would want to create a child with her. Delilah doubted that she would ever bear children, but all the same, the thought remained that perhaps, at some point, there was the smallest chance some man would _want _to have a child with her.

Once, she had hardly ever even considered the possibility of such a thing happening, but in a sense, she was _free _now, and perhaps a day would come when a boy would look at her twice instead of pretending not to have noticed her at all.

Delilah drifted away from the door, lost in her own thought, only to nearly run face-first into Winry at the entrance to the bathroom.

"Be careful, silly." Winry chuckled and reached out a hand to steady the younger girl, though she herself seemed a bit unsteady and tired. "If I were Al, you could've gotten a concussion."

"Sorry," Delilah apologized.

"Al was a bit worried that you were up, actually," Winry went on. "He asked me to check on you while I went to the bathroom; he doesn't want to accidentally wake anyone up with all his clanking. Though…he did seem to be worried. Did something happen in Central or something?" she asked seriously.

_"Please. As if I'd want to do something _unspeakable_ to someone disgusting and small like you."_

Delilah shook her head to dispel her memory. She didn't want to worry Winry. "I left my medicine back at the hotel; it is hard for me to sleep without it." She felt guilty for not telling the mechanic the truth—admittedly, she hadn't _lied, _but then again, she hadn't answered Winry's question.

"Ah, I see." Winry scrunched up her face in thought. "Count sheep? I'm not sure what'll help. But if you don't mind, I'd like to go to the bathroom now. I want to get back to bed so I can be up early to ask Dominic to apprentice me again." With that, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Delilah would have had to be blind to not notice that Winry was doing everything she could to become apprenticed to the old mechanic, but it suddenly hit her that Winry could very well stay in Rush Valley. Of course, Winry would have to go back to Resembool, but Delilah had grown accustomed to the girl's friendship. If Winry was going to be away for whoever knew how long, then Delilah wanted to do something for her.

Delilah slipped away down the hall, intent on finding a place where she could perform a transmutation. She considered going outside, but then she remembered how hard it was raining; she didn't think she would mind getting wet as much as she would mind the fact that she wouldn't be able to draw a circle with all the water washing it away. She would have to settle for finding a quiet spot where she could make something, somewhere she wouldn't be found so that her gift to Winry would remain a surprise.

She wandered the bottom floor of the house until she found a spot that suited her needs: Dominic's private workspace. Silently, she entered the room and made to close the door, but she found that there was none. She wasn't bothered, since the room was in a far corner of the house and far away from where the others were sleeping. She drew a small, simple circle on the ground, taking care to keep the edges round and even. At this point, she hesitated.

She wanted to make something that Winry would use, not just some object to look at. She also didn't want to use the floor to make something, since she didn't own the house. In fact, the only things she had at the moment were her hat (which she had left in the patient room) and the clothes she was wearing—

Suddenly struck with a solution, Delilah moved from her crossed-legged position so that she was sitting on her knees, and she grabbed at the hem of her dress, making to pull it up over her legs, over her hips, over her—

A clanking sound alerted her to the arrival of Alphonse, and she paused, looking over her shoulder just in time to see the armor-boy enter her view through the doorframe. He was looking around the hall, but he glanced into the room and saw her.

He saw her.

Sitting there on the floor, her bare legs exposed, her plain underwear clearly shown, her still-wide-but-slimming waist uncovered. Nothing else but her startled face could be seen, and once he registered that, he spun around, sputtering apologies.

He was so flustered that he actually fell over onto the floor with a crash; luckily, the sound of the storm outside was too loud for the commotion to carry far. Still, the racket startled Delilah out of her stupor, and she had the decency to blush; her face darkened to a color reminiscent of a tomato. She dropped the hem of her dress and stood, hurrying to Alphonse's side and discovering that his head had fallen off and landed a few feet away. As he sat up, still yammering away, she hurried to retrieve it and put it back in the space between his shoulders.

"I-I was just worried that you were still up," he stammered, adjusting his head so that it would stay on better. He wasn't looking at her. "I d-didn't see anything," he lied. "I-I'm really sorry."

Delilah didn't really know what to do, so she just stood there; her usually quiet face was still a bit scrunched up in embarrassment. "It is okay. I was trying to transmute something for Winry," she explained quietly.

He glanced at her on and off for a couple moments before he seemed to (mostly) regain himself. "Oh. Uh, you were transmuting your dress?"

The blush was thankfully beginning to fade from her face. "Just a little bit of it. Transmuting the cloth—just changing its shape—is not hard; I made my own clothes."

Alphonse seemed intrigued. "Brother does that, too. What're you making?"

She hesitated. "It is a surprise."

"I won't tell anyone."

So she told him, and he agreed that it was a good idea. Then there was an awkward pause.

"Um…"

Alphonse realized himself. "U-uh, I'll go, uh, wait for you. Over there. Yeah." He rose from the floor and shuffled down the hall. Delilah watched him for a moment before she hurried back into the room. She hesitated again as she knelt beside her circle. She checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was there (not that she actually thought Alphonse would try to peek at her on purpose), and then she pulled off her dress and put it in the middle of the circle. She transmuted a small amount of the hem off her dress before putting it back on. She then transmuted the thread into Winry's present before slipping the item into her pocket and wiping up the chalk on the floor with her hands before dusting them on her dress.

"Did you make it?" Alphonse asked when she stepped out of the room and walked over to him. She nodded in response, and after a second he said, "Winry told me you were still up because you forgot your medicine."

It sounded a bit like he was chastising her, whether he meant to say it that way or not. "Well, I did not know that we were going to be spending the night here," she pointed out softly, feeling a bit put-off at herself at giving Alphonse cause to worry when he didn't need to. "If I had known, I would have brought my things."

Alphonse made to scratch his head. "Well, you should be tired after everything we did today. Can't you at least…_try_? I mean…" He paused, somehow seeming to grow smaller even though he was a hulking figure. "I-if you want to, uh, sleep inside me again, I wouldn't mind."

Delilah remembered how nice it had been to be surrounded and safe while she slept, but she shook her head and politely declined. "I do not think I will be able to get any sleep at all. I do not want to trouble you. Thank you, though. Besides, you are supposed to be wearing the armor for 'alchemy training,' are you not? What if they saw me get out of you?"

"You have a point," he said. "But please try your_ hardest _to sleep, okay? I don't want you passing out again."

"I will."

()()()()()

True to her word, Delilah had tried her hardest to quiet her thoughts and fall asleep. She had managed to slip into a light doze for an hour or two, but when everyone else had started getting up, so had she. And currently, everyone was crowded into Satera's room to see the baby. Dominic had come back with the doctor not long ago; it was interesting to see the old man's soft side when faced with his grandchild.

"Both mother and child are in good physical condition," the doctor was saying. He turned to face Winry and Delilah. "The post-delivery process was handled well, too. Even adults get scared over being in charge of delivering a baby. You two're really something else."

Winry waved her arms, embarrassed at the praise. "W-what? Delilah here did most of the work."

The younger girl was shocked. "I would not have been able to do this all by myself, Winry! You helped a lot!"

Winry was still a bit red in the face at the praise, but she accepted it. "But if the little guy had come out on the day that he was supposed to, none of this trouble would have happened," she said, a little teasingly as she glanced at the newborn.

Alphonse chuckled. "He was probably born early because Brother touched her tummy. He's so impatient it rubbed off."

"So it's _my _fault now?!"

The doctor laughed. "Well, the baby was delivered without any problems, so everything turned out okay."

Dominic turned serious. "Everyone—especially you two young ladies—really helped us out. Now, I don't say this often, but…you earned it. Thank you."

Winry and Delilah exchanged a look, both embarrassed at the thanks and unused to the idea that the stern man would thank them.

Ed was suddenly giving Dominic a sly look. "So, how about it, boss? Now that you're in such a good mood, why don't you consider taking on an apprentice?"

"_No_." Dominic's tone sent Ed flying. "I'm grateful that you helped us be delivering the baby, but this is another matter altogether. I don't take on apprentices. Besides, you have a family waiting for you back home, missy," he continued, turning to Winry again. "A young girl shouldn't make her family worry."

As polite as he was being even though he was such a stern man, Winry's disappointment was as plain as day. Ed muttered something that Delilah didn't catch, and Al pointed out, "But he's right. Granny Pinako will be all alone in Resembool."

_Thunk_! Dominic fell off his stool and landed on the floor. At first, Delilah thought something was physically wrong with him, but when she tried to ask if he was okay, he spoke directly over her.

"P-Pinako from...Resembool?"

Winry was perplexed (unsurprisingly; everyone else in the room was, too). "Yes. Pinako Rockbell is my grandmother."

Dominic immediately scooted away until his back was against the far wall. His eyes were wide with terror. "Pinako Rockbell's grandchild..."

Winry was the first to be able to find it within herself to speak. "Um... Did something happen between Granny and you?"

"_Don't ask!_ You're gonna reopen my old wounds!" Dominic's response was immediate. He then put his face in his hands. "The memories are too awful! The wild woman! _The Pantheress of Resembool!"_

"THE WHAT?" Ed and Al exclaimed.

"'Panthress of Resembool,'" Delilah supplied, thinking they hadn't heard the old man clearly.

"I know what he said," Ed nearly screeched, "but I really don't wanna know what he means!"

"In any case," Dominic went on, seeming to have calmed down for the most part, "I don't accept apprentices, and now that I know you're _that _woman's _grandchild, _it makes me want to take you on even less! What I mean is…"

He let out a sigh and stood, patting Winry on the head. "Well, if you _must _be trained, then I suppose I can introduce you to a good engineer at the bottom of the mountain who might take you on."

"Can I come here once in a while to watch you work?" Winry asked eagerly.

Dominic was already walking away. "Hmph. If you're going to get in my way, don't bother coming." He stopped. "But… If you wanna come here occasionally to visit my grandchild, then I guess I couldn't stop you. And the little pickpocket can come, too, if she changes her ways." And then he left the room.

Ed grinned. "He's a softie inside."

* * *

_a/n: I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATENESS. Really, really sorry. But school has hit me, and hit me hard, and school has to come first, I'm afraid. (It sucks.) And this chapter was supposed to be more Del and Winry-centric but ugh that didn't happen. I feel like this chapter was a bit crappy but I was tired of not updating. Thank you to those of you who're reviewing, you guys are as awesome as...alchemists. Yes that's a good thing very good. Anyway, I have work in the morning, so bye for now, I'll try to get writing again as soon as I can, okay? *huggus for everyone*_


	16. Chapter 16

_DISCLAIMER: I only own my own OCs and this fic, not FMA, though._

* * *

Sixteen

They hadn't wasted much time after that. After bidding farewell to the LeCourts, who told them how to get back to Rush Valley, the five teens had left and headed on their roundabout journey. The walk to the next town had been a long one, since the bridge was still out, but eventually the group managed to snag a ride on a passenger wagon; Delilah ended up sitting in the middle between Alphonse and Winry, while Paninya and Edward sat at the far ends.

At first, all of them talked for a bit, mostly expressing gratitude for having found a mode of transportation other than walking. Everyone sans Alphonse was tired from the journey, and even Delilah was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. Soon, exhaustion took over, and the first to succumb to sleep was Ed, followed by Paninya. The only reason why Delilah and Winry were still awake was because they were engaged in conversation, along with Alphonse.

"I can't wait to meet Mr. Garfiel," Winry said, yawning. "Dominic said he was the best engineer living in the town."

"How're you going to get him to make you his apprentice, though?" Al asked.

"You could show him Edward's arm," Delilah suggested.

Winry nodded. "I'll do that. It is my best work, after all."

Al chuckled a bit. "Well, I hope you won't have to make him another one from scratch."

Winry suddenly pouted. "You guys still haven't told me what you two did to get so beat up. You guys worry me."

"Uh…if anyone was to tell you that, I think it should be Brother," Al said tactfully. Delilah almost didn't hear him—Winry's question had gotten her thinking about the infamous Scar, and she just barely managed to suppress a shudder, thinking about how Envy could've hurt her like the murderer had hurt Edward and Alphonse.

Winry sighed. "Well, at least you don't get into trouble, do you, Delilah?"

She said it as a joke, but Delilah was so suddenly overcome by guilt that her tongue slipped. "Someone threatened me."

It felt as if the temperature had dropped. Al and Winry stared at her with wide eyes, and the mechanic's mouth had opened in shock.

"I-I mean," Delilah amended, trying to look small. She couldn't believe she had just blurted such a thing out. "I just got separated from E-Edward and Alphonse and someone threatened me but he left and…" She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to ignore the memory of being so terrified. "I lied to you about if anything happened in Central. I am sorry, Winry."

Tears appeared in her eyes as she silently berated herself for being unable to tell Winry the whole truth. Partly it was because she agreed that Edward should be the one to explain to Winry what had happened with Scar and what had happened at Laboratory Five, but also because Delilah just couldn't find it within herself to explain again about that night. She wanted to forget about it completely.

"Oh, you poor girl."

Those words were the only warning Delilah got before Winry hugged her.

"I must've made you uncomfortable by asking about it," the older girl said. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have said it if I'd known."

Delilah sat still, unsure of what to do. After a moment, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Winry and relaxed into the hug. "It is all right."

Winry pulled back after a moment. "That must've been scary. You reported the guy, right?"

Alphonse had stayed quite silent up until this point. "We did. He…hasn't been found yet, though."

"Oh." There was an awkward pause.

"Um…" Deciding that now was as good a time as any, Delilah reached into her pocket. "I, uh, made something for you, Winry."

The mechanic looked surprised. "Really? What? Why?"

Delilah felt embarrassed, but this was definitely preferable to how she had felt a few moments ago. "I…will miss you while you are working. Um, here." She placed the white object into Winry's hand.

Winry peered at it curiously before recognizing it. "A hair tie?"

She hadn't sounded judgmental in the slightest, but Delilah felt the need to defend her decision. "I did not have much to transmute with, so I used a little of my dress. I wanted it to be useful…"

"Oh, thank you, Delilah, I love it." Winry immediately worked on switching her blue hair tie with her new white one. "Was that what you were doing last night?"

"Yes. I transmuted it."

"Did you help her, Al? I mean, you went looking for her."

"O-oh, no, she made it all by herself," Al answered. Delilah blushed, and she was grateful for his words, because it seemed like she was being modest instead of being embarrassed at the memory of the night before.

Winry finished tying her hair. "Well, thank you. Now I just wish I had something for you!"

"Oh, no—I do not need anything." Delilah awkwardly waved off Winry's offer. "I am all right."

"Well, if you're sure… Oh, maybe I'll make you some apple pie too sometime, with the recipe Mrs. Hughes taught me."

Delilah found herself smiling. "I would like that."

()()()()()

After a while the exhausting events of the past couple days finally caught up with her, and without meaning to she fell against Winry, who was already asleep, and drifted into a doze that lasted until the wagon stopped in Rush Valley and Alphonse woke them all. Ed, sleepy, gave the wagon driver and few cens, and Paninya led the way to Garfiel's automail shop.

"Just so you know," she said as they came into view of a rather flowery-looking sign, "Mr. Garfiel can be a bit…different."

And different he was.

"Oh, my _dear,_ you most certainly can be my apprentice if you made _this _by yourself," the man cooed, moving his fingers along Ed's automail arm. Ed looked quite displeased at the invasion of personal space. "This is simply exquisite!"

Winry blushed at the praise. "Oh, it's nothing."

"But you made it in three days," Delilah said.

"Three days?" Garfiel's eyes widened and he put his hands on his cheeks. "Oh, darling, I simply _must _have you as my apprentice!"

Winry blinked. "Really?"

Garfiel moved away from Ed (much to the boy's relief) and clasped Winry's hands within his own. "I _won't _take no for an answer!"

After a moment, Winry beamed. "Okay!"

The two launched onto the topic of what Garfiel expected her to do, but before even Ed could grow tired of the situation, a customer walked in and asked for Garfiel's assistance. Ed took the opportunity to remind them all that their things were still at the hotel, and Winry asked Mr. Garfiel to excuse them.

()()()()()

"I can't believe he really wanted me," Winry breathed as the group trudged their belongings to the train station. The mechanic would've rather dropped her suitcase off at Garfiel's, but Ed had stubbornly insisted that there was no time.

"What're you talking about, Winry? Of course he wanted you to be his apprentice," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, you must be some mechanic if Ed's arm is that good at throwing punches." Paninya laughed. Ed mumbled something about pickpockets, and his wording didn't sound particularly pleasant.

They came to the ticket booth in front of the train station, and Edward paid for three tickets.

"You might wanna hurry," the salesperson advised. "Train's about to leave and the next one doesn't leave until dark."

As if on cue, a whistle blew, and Ed bolted onto the platform.

"Brother!" Al called uselessly. He let out a sigh that sounded like exasperation, but he wasted no time in picking up Delilah's briefcase and, much to her surprise, Delilah herself, before hurrying after his brother. She had to hold on to her hat to keep it from flying off.

Luckily, Delilah thought, he hadn't thrown her over his should, or else she would've been impaled by his spikes. Not that this ordeal was much more comfortable than that; he seemed to be doing his best not to accidentally crush her, but his movements caused her head to repeatedly bump into his chest plate, and her elbow smacked against him, too.

"Be careful out there!" Winry called.

"You too!" Ed yelled. Delilah was wincing in pain, so she was only vaguely aware that he was somewhere in front of her and Alphonse. "You'd better train hard! And Granny's gonna be worried about you, so make sure you give her a call."

Alphonse's entire body lurched; there was half a second of something akin to silence, and then he landed on the end of the train with a resounding thud.

"I don't need you of all people reminding me!" Winry yelled.

Ed laughed. "Make sure you steal some of that old guy's secrets so that next time you can make me a better arm!"

"You can count on it!"

After Winry and Paninya had blurred into distant dots, Alphonse set Delilah down. The girl pulled off her hat and gingerly rubbed at a spot on her head.

"Sorry, Delilah," Al apologized before turning to his brother. "We could've just waited for the next one, you know."

"There was no way I was gonna stay in that place anymore, especially after meeting Mr. Rainbow."

"Brother!"

"Whatever." Ed opened the door into the last compartment on the train. Only two or three people sat around in separate booths; the people looked up curiously when the door opened but lost interest when they only saw a couple kids in the doorway, missing the bulky armor behind them. Ed went inside first and took the nearest seat, while Delilah followed and sat beside him. Alphonse came last, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the bench facing them.

"How long will it take to get to Dublith?" Delilah asked.

Ed shrugged. "Only one hour, I'd guess. It's not far from here."

"…Maybe you two should get some rest before we see Teacher," Al suggested. "We've had a long day already, and seeing Teacher while we're tired might be…bad."

"But if I take my medicine I will not wake up properly for hours," Delilah pointed out.

"And I couldn't sleep if I tried." Ed shuddered. "Not when we're so close to Teacher…."

"Is your teacher a scary person?" Delilah asked, remembering a previous conversation where the boys had seemed terrified.

"Yes," Al said.

"Scarier than words can describe," Ed added.

"She's a wonderful person. Just…"

"Scary."

"Yeah."

Delilah wasn't sure how to handle that information. "But…she taught you well, right? I mean, Edward, you can perform alchemy without circles."

"Uh…" Ed shrugged. "Yeah. Speaking of alchemy, I think we should be acting more like your teachers and see what else you know. Right, Al?"

And so, the rest of the ride was spent talking about alchemy, and before long they had stopped in Dublith. Delilah had hardly been aware of the passing of time.

Ed stretched his arms as they stepped off the platform and wandered into the town. "It's pretty much the same as we left it."

"…But Brother, _we're _different."

Ed slumped. "And she's going to kill us."

"She…is not really going to kill you, right?" Delilah said.

"We'll see," Ed muttered. "We're here, anyway." He stood up straight and dry-swallowed, looking at a store sign above them: MEAT.

"Fitting. We're dead meat," Al said.

"But you are metal…."

"Figure of speech, Del—"

_"Hi, can I help you?"_

Ed and Al jumped, but as Delilah wasn't expecting to be killed, she wasn't taken aback. While the brothers held each other in fright, she turned to see a stocky, well-muscled young man standing behind them.

"Hey, Ed, that you?" His tone was warm. "Long time no see!"

"Uh…Mason, right?" Ed said, detangling himself from his brother.

The man—Mason—laughed and patted Ed's head. "You've gotten so big? And who's the big guy in the armor? And who's the girl?" he added suggestively, not that Delilah quite picked up on his tone.

"That's our _friend_, Delilah," Ed said.

"And I'm Ed's younger brother, Alphonse."

Mason paused. "….You've gotten _really _big." He shrugged it off and led them through the nearby alleyway to the side entrance of the shop, reclaiming his chipper mood. "You came to see Izumi, right? Just wait a sec. I'll go get her. It's actually perfect timing! She just got back from a trip yesterday."

While he went inside, Delilah noticed that Ed was trembling, and Al was muttering, "I wish she was still away on that trip…." Up until now, Delilah hadn't been overly worried, but now, anxiety was starting to creep up on her, especially when she heard approaching footsteps.

A large, bearded man carrying a bloody knife lumbered outside. His arms were on-par with those of the Major's, not to mention of two of them were probably the same mass, although the comparison just about ended there, as the man's gut protruded quite roundly. He was still intimidating, to say the least.

"N-nice to see you again," Ed and Al chorused.

The man inspected them and suddenly grabbed Ed's head with a meaty hand and ruffled his hair. "Good to see you, Ed. You've gotten big." His voice was deep, gravelly, and warm. Like Mason, he needed help in identifying Alphonse, but he also gave the armor-boy a pat on the head.

He turned to Delilah and held out a hand. "Sig Curtis. Pleased to meet you, miss."

Flustered, she let her hand disappear into his fist. "Delilah Heywood. I am a, uh, friend of the Elrics."

Sig gave her a smile before addressing Ed. "Why the sudden visit?"

"Well, there was something we wanted to ask Teacher."

Sig readily agreed to lead them around the back to the house. He asked Mason to keep an eye on the store before they headed around to where the house was connected to another street.

"How's Teacher doing?" Al asked.

"Not so bad, considering her condition." Sig stopped beside an open window and spoke inside. "Hey, Izumi, the Elric kids are here. They brought a girl with them. Can you get up?"

A voice wafted out. "I think so. I feel a little better today."

_She sounds bedridden. _All of Delilah's worries about Ed and Al "getting killed" left her head. _At least partly. I wonder if there's anything I can do for her…._

Immediately after this thought crossed her mind, the front door flew open and a foot jutted out, kicking Edward all the way across the front yard.

An imposing woman stepped out of the house, glowering at Ed's crumpled form. "Well, if it isn't my fool of an apprentice. I hear a lot of rumors about you even out here in Dublith. So you've stooped so low as to become a dog of the military, have you? _Well? Say something!" _

Sig picked up Ed's limp body. "It's no use, Izumi."

_Izumi?_

_This _was the sick woman?

Izumi's mood flipped completely when she noticed Alphonse, who had been trying to stay out of sight up against the wall. "And who're you in the armor?"

"I-it's me, Alphonse. Um, Teacher…"

Izumi brightened. "Oh, Al! You've gotten so big. And who is this lovely young lady?"

Delilah was unable to speak. She opened her mouth, but she could only stare at the woman. Her silence seemed to speak volumes to Izumi, and the woman's mood changed once more.

"She's, uh, our friend, Delilah Heywood," Al supplied.

"A _friend_, huh? I think I see how it is. I don't hear from you two in years, and you suddenly show up on my doorstep with a girl?" Al started to move away from his teacher's dark tone, but she was too quick, and he was soon sprawled on the ground.

_"Which one of you got her pregnant?"_

Ed, who had regained consciousness, fell onto the ground from the shock, while Al let out some sort of startled yell. Delilah was still too stunned by everything to react…though this predicament didn't help her at all.

_"Well?"_

"T-Teacher, why would you think that?" Al said.

"Y-yeah," Ed added. "That's not why we're here. A-and she's our _friend_…!"

Izumi examined them through narrowed eyes before turning to Delilah. "They've done nothing to you?"

Shocked out of her stupor, she nodded. "No. Uh, I mean, they have not."

Izumi still looked skeptical. "Well, I'll accept that for now. You can't trust teenage—"

She interrupted herself when a large flow of blood cascaded out of her mouth.

Sig was immediately at her side with a bottle of pills, soothing her and gently scolding her as she took the medicine.

She embraced him when she was finished. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Come on, don't talk like that," Sig said.

Delilah tottered over to Ed and Al, who looked as dazed as she felt as they regrouped.

"Um…maybe we should try this again," Al suggested.

"It's nice to see you again," Ed offered weakly.

Izumi grinned and gave Ed a playful (and painful) slap on the head. "Welcome back."

* * *

_a/n: I'M SORRY FOR THE LATENESS omg. Just, just don't rely on any quick updates anymore. The only reason this was finished was because I decided to procrastinate on the work I really really have to do because I've been sick lately and I have to make up a lot of shit. And yeah ffnak;sjhfka I'm sorry, I feel like this chapter was kinda bad jdfkjasldjf I don't even know anymore xD;;_

_anyway I need to get going, please review!_


	17. Chapter 17

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs. And this fic. And my cat. Though I'll share her with Al._

* * *

Seventeen

"Delilah, right?" Izumi asked as Sig led the way into the house.

"Um, yes," the girl replied. She hesitated. "I-it is nice to meet you..."

"Just call me Izumi. May I ask why you're with Edward and Alphonse?"

"Oh...well, they agreed to teach me about alchemy."

Izumi's eyes glinted. "Oh, really? Tell me, Ed, Al," she said, turning to the boys. "How do you expect to have an apprentice when you two are still apprentices yourselves?"

The boys trembled at her tone. "W-we were just helping her," Al explained.

"Y-yeah, what Al said."

Izumi smacked them both upside the head. "Arrogant boys." She turned to Mason. "You mind getting lunch started? I want to catch up with these guys. I'll help out later."

"Sure thing, boss." Mason disappeared into the kitchen.

Izumi led them into the small dining room and gestured to the chairs. "Tell us what you're up to."

And so, Ed and Al launched into a quick explanation that they were searching for the Philosopher's Stone, including how they had met Dr. Marcoh and how Delilah had tagged along to help them in Central.

"You didn't want to go home and study alchemy from him?" Izumi asked. "He sounds like a more competent teacher than these two knuckleheads."

Delilah felt a pang in her stomach. "He is missing."

A pregnant pause filled the room.

"Marcoh, you said?" Sig asked.

"Y-yes. But he also goes by Mauro. Have you heard anything about him?" she asked, her voice straining slightly.

Izumi shook her head. "It's possible I've heard of him, but not for years. I'm sorry, Delilah."

The girl's hopes plummeted. "That is okay." Delilah stared at her lap for a moment, nearly overcome with worry. She missed the doctor so much that it hurt. She wanted to know if he was safe, if he was even alive. What if he was dead, or hurt? What if she never saw him again?

"Well...do you know anything about the Philosopher's Stone?" Ed asked.

"I've never had any interest in the Stone," Izumi replied. "Why do you want to do research into something that's just a legend?"

Ed fidgeted. "Uh, well, just out of intellectual curiosity…!"

While Izumi thought for a moment, Sig spoke up. "On our last trip to Central, we met an alchemist who knew a lot about the Stone."

"Oh yeah, that guy!" Izumi exclaimed. "I think he called himself 'Hohenheim.'"

Alphonse leaned forward so fast that Delilah was startled out of her reverie. "What was he like?! Was he tall with blond hair, glasses and a beard?"

Izumi nodded. "I couldn't tell how old he was, but he was pretty good looking." When Sig fumed, she playfully slapped him. "Oh, come on! You're much better looking than he was!"

Alphonse leaned back into his chair. "So he's alive..."

Delilah tipped her head. "Do you know him?"

"He's…our father."

_The man in the picture_, Delilah realized, remembering the photo of Ed, Al, and their parents that she had seen in the Rockbell house. She had never seen the man's face, but she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised that the man was blonde.

Izumi seemed optimistic. "The father who left you guys all those years ago? That's perfect. He might still be in Cent— "

"That guy—" Edward started. His whole body was tight. "That guy is the last person I want to ask for help."

There was silence before Alphonse spoke up. "Um…did our dad say anything about the Stone?"

Izumi thought for a moment. "He said that his lifelong dream was about to come true. He seemed pretty happy about it."

()()()()()

Lunch preparation was a family event, so to speak. Izumi helped Mason in the kitchen, and she asked Delilah to come help them, even though the girl nervously confessed to being a terrible cook. Sig, Alphonse and Edward took the time to put out the plates and drinks. When the food was done, the table became crowded. The meal was a free-for-all parade of meat, and since Delilah was sitting between Mason and Ed, she was unable to even move until they had collected their food, lest she receive an elbow to her face.

"So, Delilah," Izumi began once everyone had started to eat, "where are you from?"

Delilah was nervous at being addressed, especially by the intimidating woman. "A small town a few hours away from Resembool."

Izumi cut into her steak. "And how do your parents feel about you gallivanting off with these boys?"

Delilah paused. "I only remember my mother a tiny bit. My parents abandoned me when I was young. I was sick."

"What sort of people would abandon their child?" Izumi asked in disgust. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, dear."

"I-it is all right, really," Delilah replied.

Mason, who seemed unnerved by the gloomy aura, switched the topic by asking Ed and Al what they'd been up to lately, and the conversation became much more pleasant and boisterous.

Mason chomped on his food. "There are some really bad people out there, huh?"

Ed nodded, slurping up his noodles. He was finishing up his story about Yoki and the Youswell coal mines, a story that Delilah had already heard from Alphonse. "You can say that again. I was so mad that I reported that creep to the Colonel at East HQ."

"That was dumb of you," Izumi noted. "If you'd kept the deeds, you'd have some financial security when you're old."

"But Edward is already a State Alchemist," Delilah pointed quietly, having already finished her lunch. "He should have enough money to last for a while, at least."

"State Alchemist money is filthy," Izumi spat, and Delilah tried to make herself look smaller.

"Besides," Sig put in, "you don't want to do anything too risky. You're just kids, after all."

Al sighed. "I want to live a peaceful life, but my brother, on the other hand..."

"What, are you saying it's all my fault?!"

"Well, isn't it?"

"Sounds like you guys get in a lot of danger on your travels," Mason noted.

"Oh, no, it's not always like that," said Alphonse.

"Yeah, in Rush Valley, we got to see a baby being born!" Ed exclaimed.

"That's right, Teacher! We helped deliver a baby. Well, more like Winry and Delilah helped," Al amended.

Delilah brightened at the memory, but she blushed at the praise. "I did what I could."

Ed laughed. "C'mon, Del, if you and Winry hadn't taken charge, who knows what would've happened."

Delilah couldn't help but smile, remembering how important she had felt.

"But anyway," Alphonse went on, "everyone pulled together, and the mother put her life on the line. Humans are born with the blessings of everyone around them."

"That's right," said Izumi. "That's how you all were born, too. Be proud of your own lives."

Ed grinned, then turned to her. "Come to think of it, why don't you have any kids yet, Teacher?"

Izumi—

"Hey, Ed!" Mason shouted, jerking to his feet. "Uh… I bet you guys' alchemy skills have gotten a lot better since the last time I saw you, right? Maybe you can show me how much you've improved."

Ed brightened and stood as well. "Sure, whenever you like! We did research every day, even when we returned to Resembool!"

"And we've been training our bodies, just like you told us to, Teacher," Al added. "We've even been able to do large-scale transmutations!"

"Hey, why don't we go outside and show them what we can do?" Ed suggested. "You too, Del," he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of her chair.

"B-but—"

Al put a hand on her shoulder and helped to lead her outside. "Don't be shy, your alchemy's great. And this is good practice, remember?"

Delilah nodded hesitantly. When they were outside, Al suggested that she draw a circle, and while she drew it the Curtises came outside and watched her. She felt rather small under all the stares and she worried that her lines were too shaky, but when she transmuted a small dog out of the dirt, she was mostly satisfied.

"Aw, it looks like Den!" Al picked up the figurine and noted one of the front legs, which was bulkier than the rest though not very defined.

"Not bad," Izumi put in. "It could use a little more work, though."

After handing the dog back to a pleased but shy Delilah, Alphonse went next and used the girl's circle, although he added a few runes. He transmuted a rather plain-looking horse that was big enough to sit on, and Izumi praised him. Ed wasted no time in taking his turn, and he clapped his hands before pressing them to the ground, transmuting a large, "ornate" horse that stood, rearing its hooves.

Al took one look at the horse. "You need to work on your detail, Brother."

"What?! Do you have a problem with my horse?"

Smiling at their bickering, Delilah put her figurine down beside the stone horses and began to edit her earlier circle so that it would encompass all of them; she wanted to put them back into the ground, since they weren't going to be used. Before she could do much, something Izumi said caused her to stop and look up.

"You can work alchemy without a transmutation circle?"

Her tone caused Delilah to edge behind Al's arm.

"Huh?" Ed turned towards his teacher. "Yes, I can…."

Izumi raised a hand to her chin and was silent for a moment. "Ed."

"Yes…?"

"Don't lie to me. You've seen _that thing, _haven't you?"

Ed shifted nervously. "W-what…do you mean…?"

Izumi glared at him. "You saw it, didn't you?"

He tensed. "…Yes, I did."

"I should have expected that from a genius who became a State Alchemist at your age," she spat.

"I'm no genius. I just saw that thing, that's all," Ed said shakily. "Teacher…do you mean _you've_…?"

"Mrs. Curtis!"

A trio of kids ran into the yard, breaking the tense atmosphere, but before Delilah got the chance to hear what they wanted, she felt a sudden pain in her abdomen, and she let out an involuntary squeak.

Alphonse noticed the noise and turned away from the commotion of the kids. "Is something wrong?"

Delilah shook her head and gently laid her hand over her stomach. "I just…think I need to go to the bathroom. I will be right back."

"It shouldn't be too hard to find," Alphonse called as she disappeared into the house. Thankfully, his words were truthful, and she found the bathroom with ease. However, the pain returned as she sat down, and she gritted her teeth at the sharp discomfort. She doubled over to try to alleviate the pain, but that didn't help much, either.

She couldn't think about much else but the pain and how horrible it was. All she could imagine was that she had eaten too much lunch—the Curtises had insisted that she eat a lot of meat, too. She went about her business in the bathroom, but the cramps didn't lesson for another five minutes, and even then she felt rather awful.

"Oh, there you are," Mason said as she came into the living room. He was sitting on the couch, drinking from a mug. "I thought you'd gone with Izumi and Ed and Al to go bury Chiko for Menny."

The entire sentence confused Delilah, and her stomach wasn't helping her. "What?"

Sig walked into the room, holding his own cup. "Menny lives in the neighborhood. She wanted Izumi to bring her cat back to life. They're out burying it."

"Oh." For a moment, Delilah forgot about her discomfort.

"Where were you, then?" Mason asked.

"Um, I am not feeling very well," she admitted. She suddenly felt a little nervous at being alone with the men, even though Ed and Al trusted them.

"Do you want me to get you something?" Sig offered. She shook her head shyly.

"Here, have a seat," Mason offered, moving over to the other end of the couch.

"U-um…" Delilah stared at them; she didn't want to impose in the slightest, but her abdomen complained again, so she sat. "I-I think I ate too much…."

Mason gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, that happens sometimes. But hey, how about I tell you a story about Ed and Al to pass the time? Especially since they're not here, heh."

There was no reason to disagree, so Delilah nodded.

Mason launched into the story of when Ed and Al had first started their alchemy training with Izumi. Izumi had sent them to live on an island for a whole month—a fact that Delilah had known—but Mason told the story as if he were there. And in fact, when Delilah asked, he laughed and said that he _had _been there to make sure they didn't get themselves killed…although he did give them some bruises.

During the story, Sig had disappeared into the kitchen and come back with a mug of tea for Delilah. She sipped politely while listening to the story, and she found herself smiling at the descriptions of Ed and Al flailing through the woods. Not that she would've done anything different, though. She doubted that she would've survived a day.

"So, d'you have any stories?" Mason asked when he was finished. Ed, Al, and Izumi still hadn't returned, even though the sky outside was starting to turn orange with the sunset.

Delilah tried to think of something interesting. "Um… I have met the Fuhrer, once."

"The big guy himself?" Sig asked.

She nodded. "We were taking a tour of Central Headquarters. He seems like a nice man."

"I've heard that, too," Mason agreed.

"He can't be nice all the time though, not when he runs this country," Sig pointed out. "All this war changes people."

"Well… He seemed nice," Delilah repeated. Before anything else could be said, the sound of the front door opening in the next room interrupted them, and Izumi called for her husband. Sig responded immediately and went into the other room, closing the door behind him.

Mason turned to Delilah. "Well…we should probably leave them alone."

Delilah looked at the door before standing; for a moment, she had forgotten about her own body, but at her movement her abdomen started cramping again, and she grimaced. "I am going to go lay down."

She left the living room and went to the room where Mason had kindly put their things for them. There were two beds; as he left her, Mason explained that it had once been where Ed and Al had slept when they had been apprentices. Delilah took her book out of her bag and settled down on the closest bed and began to read, although her worry for the boys and her cramps kept her from concentrating well.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but she had come to a section on the muscles in the chest when the door opened and Al came in.

"…Teacher expelled us. We have to go."

Processing this took Delilah a moment. "What?"

"We told her about…what we did. We're going back to Central."

"Oh." She sat there for a second more before realizing the situation. She closed her book and picked up her briefcase while Al collected Ed's suitcase, and together they left the house, passing Izumi, who sat in the kitchen with her arms folded, glaring at Ed and Al.

Honestly, Delilah didn't feel that bad about leaving.

Sig led them out of the house and to the station, and as he lumbered ahead of them, he spoke.

"While she was pregnant with her first child, Izumi became deathly ill. She fought hard and the doctors did their best, but the child didn't make it to term. After that she was left with a body that could never give birth again.

"She said 'I'm sorry' the whole night long. And it wasn't even her fault. I think that's when she started thinking about human transmutation. She lost part of her insides. But I'm the fool for not realizing what she was up to sooner."

Delilah stopped short, startled by the information.

Losing her child? Human transmutation? Her insides? Never having the chance to have a baby?

Delilah thought of the LeCourts and how happy they had been to have their child. How positively elated they were to have brought life into the world. And the Curtises would never have that pleasure. They only had the memory and consequences of something gone wrong.

_What if that happened to me?_

Tears leaked out of her eyes, but she wiped them away with the back of her hand and hurried after the trio ahead of her.

"Come on by if you're ever in the area," Sig told them when they came to the station.

The brothers looked at each other in confusion. "But we've been expelled," Ed pointed out.

"Are you really that dumb?" Sig snapped. "Don't you get it? Now that you no longer have an apprentice-master relationship, it means you can speak to one another as peers. So do you still think there's any need to stay away?"

Ed suddenly swore. "Al! What did we come to Dublith for, anyway? Let's go!" Before waiting for an answer, he started running back toward the house.

"Thanks, Mr. Curtis!" Al called, running after his brother.

"Don't let her kill you!" Sig yelled.

"We'll try our best!"

Delilah stood with Sig and watched as the brothers disappeared from sight. Once again, tears started to form in her eyes, but this time she didn't try to stop them.

"…You all right?"

She sniffed at looked up at Sig. "It is…not fair."

He sighed. "No, it isn't." He put his meaty hand on her shoulder. "Let's go back."

She nodded, wiping in vain at her tears. For some reason, she couldn't stop crying. "I-I do not…feel very well," she admitted slowly. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"Izumi'll make something nice for you," Sig said, and she didn't doubt him.

* * *

_a/n: Sorry for the lateness. And I kinda had block when I wrote this... I really wanted to get it up this weekend since it was a long one, but it still took a while. This chapter was really heavy on all the stuff from the manga chapter and that kinda bogged me down; hopefully the next chapter won't be so restricted. In fact, I'm planning for some neat stuff to happen, or at least exciting stuff._

_I really wanted to point out that Delilah is nervous about Izumi, for reasons being that Izumi is Izumi. I made it a bit subtle, though. But by the end of the chapter her feelings change because of what she learns about the woman. Next chapter we'll have some womanly bonding time~_

_Please leave a review on your way out! *huggu*_


	18. Chapter 18

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this particular fic. I also own the socks on my feet. Woo. *wiggles toes* /I'm tired don't judge me._

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Eighteen

That night, Izumi had Delilah privately tell her of her afflictions, and the woman frowned in thought before giving her a fair amount of food to eat for dinner. Afterwards, she told the girl to get a good night's rest, and to have Edward or Alphonse get her in the morning if she didn't feel better by then. Delilah even went to bed earlier than the others did. With the help of her medicine, she fell asleep relatively quickly.

Consciousness seemed to return all too soon, and the first thing she noticed was the stiffness of her muscles. She let out a small groan and shifted, trying to get comfortable—she was still sleepy, maybe she could get some more rest—but then she felt some unfamiliar, sticky substance on her skin somewhere. She opened her eyes.

She saw Edward in the other bed, still asleep, and Alphonse was sitting against one of the walls, a book in his hands. She didn't really take this into account as she was still dazed with sleep, and she was confused by the feeling on her legs. Hesitantly, she slipped a hand under the covers and touched the inside of her thigh. When she brought her arm back up, her fingertips were red.

_…My period?_

She was stunned silent for a moment and hid her hand back under the covers. "A-Alphonse?"

"What?" He looked up from his book and noticed her expression. "Are you feeling all right?"

"C-could you get Izumi for me?"

"Okay," he said, a little uncertainly, before standing and leaving the room. Now, the only sound was Ed's light snoring.

Delilah stared at the ceiling. Her period. Her _first _period_. _She knew about periods, obviously, but she didn't really _know _about periods. She could list off all the parts of the female reproductive system and the symptoms of a period (how had she not been able to tell that she was having it, anyway?), but beyond that, she didn't know what to do. She had never had a woman in her life to teach her.

It was at that moment that Izumi came into the room. She took one look at Delilah lying in bed and turned to the sleeping State Alchemist.

_"EDWARD ELRIC!" _she hollered, and the boy shot straight out of bed, his eyes wild with fright. Before he could protest—or make any kind of movement, for that matter—Izumi grabbed him by the collar of his nightshirt and dragged him out into the hall with his brother before slamming the door.

"B-but Teacher!" Ed cried, finally finding his voice. "W-what about my clothes?"

"Go ask Mason for something to wear!" Izumi snapped as she locked the door. "And don't even think about using your alchemy to get in here."

Delilah could practically hear Ed's gulp of nervousness.

Izumi, adopting a kinder disposition, turned to Delilah and came to her bedside. "It came, didn't it?"

Delilah nodded, still dazed.

"Is it your first?" Izumi asked, though she sounded like she already knew the answer. She knelt beside the girl.

"Y-yes."

Izumi nodded. "Well, shall we see what the damage is?"

Delilah didn't really want to—she would have to accept the fact that she had actually had her period if she saw the undeniable proof, and she wasn't sure if she was ready. But there was no other option, so she sat up and pulled off the covers, exposing her nightdress and bed sheets, both of which were reddened.

"I-I am so sorry," she stuttered, horrified by the sight.

Izumi gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "It's all right, dear; it's just blood. It's not hard to get out, especially for an alchemist." She stood. "Here's what we'll do: I'll clean these while you get yourself a shower. And don't worry; I'll make sure the coast is clear of those boys, so you won't have anything to worry about, okay?"

Delilah nodded, still feeling awful about bleeding all over the bed. Izumi went to make sure that the boys had left, and then beckoned Delilah to get a change of clothes, and the girl followed her to the bathroom.

"Take as long as you like, okay? I'll come back when you're done and show you how to put on a belt. Nowadays they sell special padded underwear, but unfortunately we'll have to go buy them later since I don't have any."

Delilah realized why Izumi wouldn't have any, and that didn't help her mood.

Izumi left her for a moment while Delilah undressed and hopped into the shower; the woman only came back in to collect Delilah's soiled clothes before leaving again.

The girl's thoughts stewed as she washed herself. She felt more disgusting and embarrassed than anything else. She didn't want to inconvenience Izumi, especially since she had only met the woman yesterday. She felt like a burden.

When she was completely clean—she even washed her hair, and she was so nervous about her period that she washed her legs several times—she dried herself off with a towel and put on one of her dresses, although for the moment she disregarded her underwear.

Izumi came in a few moments later with an odd-looking belt that had a strap hanging down from two points. She explained how to put it on and tighten the belt and strap, which went between the legs. Delilah didn't like the best; it looped around her hips well enough, but the strap felt rather uncomfortable.

"It's only temporary," Izumi assured her when she noticed Delilah's expression. "In the afternoon we'll go out and buy you that underwear I mentioned earlier."

Delilah nodded mutely, her eyes trailing toward the floor.

Izumi studied her for a moment before letting out a small sigh. Somehow, she sounded affectionate but still somewhat exasperated. "Come with me," she said, and led the girl to the bedroom that Delilah was sharing with the boys. Izumi motioned for Delilah to take a seat on the freshly-made bed, and then she closed sat on the other mattress.

"I'm assuming you know about what comes with a period?"

Delilah nodded. "Several days of bleeding, cramps, irritability…"

Izumi smiled, but she wasn't entirely happy. "It is a burden, Delilah, I won't say it isn't. But it's actually a wonderful thing. Without it, women couldn't bear children. You helped that woman give birth, didn't you? And I'll bet that she was very happy to have her baby."

Delilah put a hand on her abdomen. "Then it is kind of like…equivalent exchange."

Izumi shook her head, but she was laughing. "Those boys sure have gotten to you, huh? Things in life don't work that way, though," she went on, sobering her tone.

Guilt flooded through Delilah. "I…sorry. I-I did—"

"It's okay, dear," Izumi said. "I haven't had my period for years. And just because I can't have children doesn't mean that you should feel bad because you can. You are who you are, Delilah, and I am who I am. You should cherish your ability. But I won't tell you to cherish it for my sake; you should cherish it for your own."

Delilah nodded, but she fidgeted a little. "I just…do not know if I am ready, though."

"You're still young; of course you don't feel ready. This is all a part of growing up. But one day you'll have someone who you know you'll want to bear children for, but ultimately it's your decision when you want that to happen—unless you like surprises," Izumi added, although Delilah had trouble understanding the woman's tone. "Do you want kids?"

"Yes, one day." Delilah smiled, but then it fell slightly. "I have never really thought I would have any, though. Back at home, no one looked at me. Only the doctor ever cared about me…."

_Doctor Ma…_

Tears started to leak out of Delilah's eyes. She missed the man so much. She thought about him every day and worried about him whenever she went to sleep. She couldn't stand not knowing if he was even alive.

Before she was aware that Izumi had even moved, the woman had embraced her, and Delilah began to cry harder. Izumi gently shushed her, but otherwise patiently waited for the crying to subside, something that took several minutes.

"You've been holding that worry inside for a while, haven't you?" Izumi asked.

Delilah nodded, finding it hard to speak, but she managed a few words. "I-I do not want to burden E-Edward and Alphonse."

Izumi frowned. "You're not a burden. I'm sure Ed and Al agree."

"But I…have only even been pitied, a-and even though I am not sick anymore, I felt sick, when I was at home, and…and…" Her crying made her hiccup. "I try not to think about it, but I always do. I thought about it back how, but I have not thought about it as much as I have been recently. Edward and Alphonse risked everything for their mother; the LeCourts adore their baby, and Mister Sig told us about what y-you did for your child. And…I am sure I know _why _my parents abandoned me, but _how_…

"I…must have been a burden."

As Delilah struggled not to outright sob again, Izumi patted her hair. "There, there," the woman soothed. "I'm going to be honest with you, Delilah: if I'd met you then, I would have pitied you, too. It's an emotion that people can't help but have. But that wouldn't have stopped me from respecting you. You've worked so hard to be a kind, respectable person, and you're not a burden. But that doesn't mean that you can't rely on other people to help you with your problems. This sort of thing can hurt you if you keep it inside. And I'm sure Edward and Alphonse wouldn't like it if you kept things from them.

"And do you know what, Delilah? Blood doesn't define a person or their bonds. Ed and Al aren't my children, but I like to think of them as part of my family. And sometimes, biological parents just aren't good parents. A parent is actually someone that takes care of a child and loves them. It doesn't matter about blood."

Delilah nodded shakily and fought for several minutes to keep from crying. "I just miss the doctor a lot."

"He's like a father to you, isn't he?"

"…I would not know."

"Oh, I'm sure you know. And I have a feeling he misses you too, like his own daughter."

()()()()()

Once Delilah had calmed, she helped Izumi prepare lunch (thankfully there was nothing that could be burned), and the brothers and Sig came in to eat while Mason manned the shop. It turned out that Ed _had _borrowed Mason's clothes, which were rather oversized for the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Are you feeling better, Delilah?" Al asked concernedly as they settled down to eat.

"Oh—yes, I am," she replied, busying herself with her sandwich so that she wouldn't have to explain anything,

"She and I are going out shopping later," Izumi stated before anyone (namely Ed) got too nosy about Delilah's personal business. "Sig, honey, would you mind writing a list of anything special you want?"

"Do Al and I get anything?"

"No."

"Brother and I are going to the library tomorrow, Delilah," Alphonse said as Ed was knocked back by Izumi's words. "Do you want to do with us?"

Delilah nodded as she swallowed. "That sounds nice," she said, already imagining the multitude of books.

The group chatted idly until they finished eating. Al offered for him and Ed to clean up, so Izumi and Delilah wasted no time in heading out.

()()()()()

The next day, Delilah felt exceptionally better. Now that she knew what was going on with her body and had a way to deal with it, her mood had skyrocketed. At breakfast, not only did she laugh with Ed and Al, but with the members of the Curtis house, too. It was almost funny how easy they were to get along with now that she was used to being around them.

After the morning meal, the brothers led her through Dublith toward the library. Along the way, Ed and Al couldn't help but share a few stories.

"We used to play hide-and-seek in the abandoned factory over there," Ed said, pointing west as they walked.

"It was easy. All I had to do was call him little and he'd come right out," Al said.

_"Cheater!" _

Delilah and Al laughed. "Your temper always gets you in trouble, Brother," he teased.

"If it is any consolation, Edward," Delilah said, trotting up beside him, "I do not think you are short."

Ed stopped walking and looked straight at her. Without warning, he sprang at her and grasped her shoulders. "You really think I'm tall?!"

Delilah nodded.

Ed positively glowed.

"She only thinks that because you're about the same height," Al muttered.

"Shut up, Al!"

"Well, at least I don't constantly tease you like Colonel Mustang does."

Ed muttered obscenities under his breath, and Delilah said, "I think you have mentioned him before. Is he your supervisor?"

"Well, commanding officer," Ed corrected in a dismal tone. He lowered his voice as they arrived at the library and went inside. "I'll admit he's got interesting alchemy, but beyond that, the guy's annoying. He never shuts up; he's sleazy and cheap…"

All the complaints drained Delilah a little. "What is his alchemy like?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Well, he's the Flame Alchemist," Al explained. "He has these gloves that can emit a spark when he snaps his fingers, and with the transmutation circle on his gloves he can control a flame."

"Gloves?" Delilah repeated.

Al nodded. "Yup."

"That might not be a bad idea," she said, taking a look at her own hands. Drawing a circle could be tedious and sometimes impossible if there wasn't time or materials to draw. "I could make gloves and stitch a healing circle on the palm of one and a basic circle on the palm of the other."

"It's a good idea," Al commented as Ed disappeared into an aisle, looking for books (he had grown tired of the conversation as soon as they started talking about Roy, actually). "I mean, you should still practice drawing your circles, but with gloves you'll be able to use alchemy immediately in case…"

He trailed off, but she knew what he had been going to say. _In case you're attacked again. _She remembered that night with perfect clarity, aside from after Envy had left and she had dissolved into tears. She remembered the detail in his tattoo, the way he had spoken, the cuts he had put in her skin and made her heal. And it terrified her to think that Envy and whoever he worked with wanted to use her and the brothers. It terrified her to think that they probably had the doctor hidden somewhere.

She tried to give Alphonse a smile. "Well, with gloves, I should have less to worry about."

He didn't seem to know what to say for a moment, so she suggested that they take a look around, and he agreed to show her where everything was.

()()()()()

"I did not expect you two to lose track of time, too," Delilah said as they left the library late that afternoon.

"It happens," Al replied.

"C'mon, you guys, we gotta get back to Teacher's house before she kills us," Ed urged, picking up his pace.

"Why don't we take a shortcut?" Al suggested, pointing down an alley. No one objected; the penalty for being late affected them quite a lot. They went down one or two turns before they came upon a beggar standing at the side of the alley. His face was baggy and his nose was bulbous, but he seemed normal enough.

"You there," he said, looking to Ed. "I'm talking to you. Spare some coin for a poor beggar?"

"Shut up and go get a job," Ed snapped, continuing along hurriedly. Alphonse went with him, but Delilah stopped.

She turned to the man—he was rather ugly and stinky, but she paid no mind—and reached into her pocket, but she only had a couple hundred-cen coins. "I am sorry that I do not have more," she told him as she handed over the coins.

"Ah, come on, Del," Ed said in irritation. He and Al had stopped. "If he really needed the money he'd get a job."

"But surely you have some extra cens to give him," Delilah replied. She remembered all too well the time before she had had Marcoh to pay for her. Her orphanage had provided the essentials, but not much else. She knew what it was like to not have much money.

"I see that you have a silver pocket watch there, Mr. State Alchemist," the beggar said. "You wouldn't be the famous alchemist who transmuted his brother's soul, are you? Am I right?"

Something about his tone made Delilah hesitant, and she backed away a little as Ed said dangerously, "You're starting to get on my nerves."

The beggar paid his words no mind. "You, sir, in the armor. You don't have a body, do you?"

Ed's immediate response was to put his boot in the man's face.

"Come on, you guys," he said, turning away from where the beggar lay in a pile of trash.

As unnerved as Delilah was about the man now, she couldn't just let what Ed had just done slide. "But Edward—"

"Y-you broke my nose!" the beggar yelped, leaping to his feet. "You jerks! You can't treat me like that just because I guessed right! I'd like to see your parents' faces if they knew just wh—"

Ed picked up a nearby trash can and hurled it at the man, knocking him to the ground again. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" Ed snapped.

"E-Ed—"

"Be quiet, Del," he said, glaring at the man.

She closed her enough and watched, unsettled by what was happening.

The man laughed, a little weakly at first because of his dazed state. "Judging by how angry you're getting, I'm guessing I was right about that suit of armor, too. It's not human, is it?"

This time, though, Delilah wasn't upset by Ed getting angry. He yelled at the man, and Delilah felt the need to yell at him, too; of course Alphonse was human. He was one of the kindest people she had ever met, the first person to call her a friend, and to say that he wasn't human was blasphemy.

Ed looked like he was about to pounce on the man, but Al finally stepped in and put a hand on Ed's shoulder to stop him. The armor boy took a few steps toward the man and picked him up by his dirty cloak.

"Mister, _give it a rest, okay?_"

The man seemed startled by Al, but he managed to stutter a few apologies before something whipped out from under his cloak and knocked Al's head off. Al dropped the man and stumbled backward while the beggar chuckled gleefully.

"There's no mistaking it now!" he cried, twisting his body through the air and landing on all fours. He swished a long, thick tail back and forth. "You're the ones who transmuted a soul!"

The sudden movement had startled Delilah, and she fell down onto her butt. She remained silent in shock as Ed rushed at the man, who nimbly dodged and began to run away. Ed tried to transmute a tall wall to prevent the man's escape, but the man simply climbed straight up and over the barrier, calling a cheerful goodbye as he left.

"What was that?" Ed sputtered. After a moment, he sighed and transmuted the wall back into what it had once been while Al collected his head and put it back on.

"Here." Al held out his hand to Delilah and helped her up.

"Thanks," she told him, still a little dazed from what had just taken place.

"I hope you're happy, Del," Ed said agitatedly, clapping away the dust off his gloves. "You're short some cens now."

"He probably still needed it more than I did," Delilah said. She shook her head a little. "…Did he have a lizard tail?"

"…I think he did," Al said.

"Well, whatever. We can talk about it later. Let's get back, before we're late," Ed urged, and together the group headed back to the Curtis household.

They were late, though.

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_a/n: Well, for one, happy Turkey Day for those who celebrate it. And let me just say, I'm really sleepy (which means this A/N probably won't make sense or something), so I only spellchecked this chapter. I'll read it over in the morning or something. I DO feel proud of myself for updating...relatively quickly._

_Um, what else did I want to say... Let me give a shameless plug-in for myself and say that I made my first *real* amv, you can find it on my YouTube channel (RoseblossomWarrior) and yeah. It's about Hohenheim and Homunculus. I think I did okay for my first one... XD;; OH AND ALSO GUYS GUESS WHAT. My parents got me the FMA manga box set for my birthday, it's so fucking amazing omg. I haven't finished it all yet but I have to say it's even more fantastic than the show, in my opinion._

_Anyway. In this chapter, Del had her first period. That's why she didn't feel well. So, bonding time with Izumi and some development for Del. And some of this development should be important for later chapters, too. Not saying what or what for, though~ Anyway, have a good day/night/whatever~ Don't forget to leave a review!_


	19. Chapter 19

_I don't own FMA, I only own my own OC(s)._

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Nineteen

Even though there wasn't that much to do in Dublith compared to Central or even Rush Valley, the days passed by relatively quickly. A routine soon developed: breakfast; alchemy training (Izumi helped Ed and Al out a couple times in order to better teach Delilah); lunch; helping Mason and Sig in the shop (Delilah couldn't do much because she wasn't strong enough to lift the meat around, so Izumi sent her out on errands, and Ed and Al took turns going with her); then dinner; and after that, anything could happen before they all eventually retired for the night. And then, it would all repeat the next day.

On the night they got back from the library, Ed and Al decided not to mention the mysterious man they had met, so Delilah went along with their decision. She figured it was because they didn't want Izumi to worry about them. However, she was a bit worried herself, especially by the beggar's…tail. And her nervousness wasn't helped when she overheard the brothers talking about him.

She had just changed into her nightgown and was about to head back into the room when Al's voice slightly wafted out from behind the door. "…don't think he was a…chimera?"

Ed said something sharp, but his words were hard to make out. There was some mumbling, and then silence.

Delilah hesitated for a moment before entering the room, trying to act like she hadn't heard anything. Ed moodily disappeared under his covers, and Al sighed softly.

When he noticed Delilah's expression, he hastily said, "Don't worry, Brother's just being Brother."

Delilah paused, but she took her medicine and went to bed.

()()()()()

Thankfully, there was no sign of the strange beggar, and Delilah's nerves managed to calm. She was still concerned about this "chimera" the boys had talked of, but she didn't confront them about it. She also got progressively worried about Marcoh, and sitting around in one place wasn't really helping. To manage her thoughts, she started on her new gloves. The white material she bought with borrowed money from Ed was easy to transmute into a set of fingerless gloves. From that point, she worked to stitch the transmutation circles by hand. She started with the basic circle on the left palm.

She was working on them one morning before the brothers were to tutor her when Ed suddenly froze.

Delilah looked up. "Is something wrong, Edward?"

He looked morbid. "I totally forgot about this year's assessment."

Al reacted immediately. "Oh, no!"

"What're you going on about?" Izumi asked.

"The annual assessment for State Alchemists," Ed explained nervously. "Every year we have to pass an assessment or they'll take away your license. I've been so busy lately, I forgot all about it…. This isn't good. Not good at all."

"Great!" said Izumi. "You can use this opportunity to quit being the military's dog." She grabbed a phone. "I'll go ahead and let the military know you won't be showing up."

"Stop!" Ed flailed for a moment before pacing. "I've been meaning to go to headquarters, anyway," he muttered.

"Oh, Brother, isn't Southern Headquarters just two stops away?" Al said.

"Thanks, Al," Ed said as he hurried to retrieve his things from his room. He came back with his suitcase, which he put on the table so he could put on his jacket.

"You will pass it," Delilah said, trying to encourage him.

"Yeah," Ed agreed, "it's just stressful." He put on his gloves, gathered his things, and hurried to the door.

"Be careful!" Al called.

"I'll be fine. I'll be back in two or three days. See you!" And Ed disappeared out the door.

Izumi wasn't impressed. "Why does he always rush?"

"U-um, actually… Hey, Delilah," Al said, "we should probably go with him—"

Izumi grabbed Al by the feather on his helmet. "Not so fast!" she said with faux sweetness. "You're gonna stay here and spar with me!"

Delilah didn't know whether to laugh or cry for Al.

()()()()()

"Good job!" Al said, inspecting Delilah's alchemy. She had managed to transmute a cat figurine out of the dirt, and it actually looked rather cute this time, rather than bulky.

Delilah smiled at the praise. "Thanks."

"Try making it into lead," Al suggested.

Delilah put her hands back on the circle and focused. There was a flash of sparks, and the structure of the cat changed, and its color became darker. Al picked it up.

"Good, good!" He put it back down again and had her change it back and transmute it into the ground once more. "You're getting really good at this. I knew that you only needed practice."

Al's praise made Delilah feel particularly happy and warm. "Thanks," she repeated, not really knowing what else to say.

"How are your gloves coming along?" Al asked, erasing some of the chalk marks off of the circle. He handed her a piece of chalk and asked her to draw the runes needed to effectively pull out only the carbon from the dirt.

"Well," she replied, getting to work. "I am about halfway done with the basic circle. It is rather difficult to sew it in, but I think that would be the most permanent way to do it."

"You're going to put the healing circle on the other one, right?"

She nodded. "But I am a little bit worried about making that one. I do not want to make it wrong."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Al assured her. "You know how to draw it, so you probably won't make a mistake."

She frowned and stopped drawing in the runes on the circle.

Al tipped his head. "What's wrong?" he asked concernedly.

"I was just thinking…." She paused, not really wanting to say any more, but she remembered Izumi's words from the other day and added, "…I was just thinking that I want to doctor to take a look at it when I finish it."

A heavy silence fell upon them for a moment. Despite her attempts to quell her emotions, Delilah's eyes started to leak with tears.

"You're really worried about him," Al noted softly.

She nodded mutely, keeping her eyes down.

"It's okay to be worried," he told her. "Sooner or late we'll find him, Delilah, I'm sure we will."

The tears started to come faster. "I…I want to believe that, but if we never do…" _I don't want to get my hopes up…for something that might not happen…._

Al put a hand on her shoulder. "We _will _find him," he said firmly, locking his eyes with hers. "I promise you, I'm going to help you however I can. I promise."

The words meant so much to her that she suddenly flung herself at him, embracing him. She freely cried against his steel body. For a moment, he was taken by surprise, but soon he was rubbing her back and trying to calm her.

"I-I…think of him as if he were my father," she finally admitted, still pressing her face against Al's stiff, uncomfortable chest plate, trying to distract herself from the terrible feeling in her entire body. "I-I never wanted to, b-because I ha-have never known my own and…I always wondered if he would abandon me, too; if he would find something wrong with me, too…."

She clutched at Alphonse, wishing he could feel her, wishing she could get him to understand how physically hurt she felt, not just emotionally. "I cannot understand…how there can be people like him and the LeCourts, and like your mom…but then there are parents like mine…. Did I do something wrong?"

"Of course you didn't!" Al protested vehemently. "You were just a baby, right? How could you have done anything wrong?"

She didn't answer.

"…Listen," Al said. "My dad left us when I was little. I don't really remember him that much, or know why he left. But…part of me thinks that he left because there was something important that he had to do. So maybe…maybe your parents didn't abandon you because you were sick or anything like that. Maybe they felt it was better for you to grow up away from them. Maybe they were young or poor and thought you'd be better off. It could be anything, Delilah, so don't assume the worst."

She was listening so attentively to him that she didn't realize that she had stopped crying.

"Not everyone is going to leave you, Delilah," Al said quietly. "And don't think for a second that Brother and I will."

His words struck her, silencing her completely—silencing even her thoughts, for a moment. She pulled away from him and looked up at him, and even though his eyes weren't exactly eyes, he was gazing at her with such a strong sincerity that she suddenly blushed and busied herself with wiping away her tears. She felt rather hot all over, and she didn't want him to notice.

"T-thank you, Alphonse," she whispered.

He nodded to her, and it almost appeared as if he were smiling—maybe it felt that way because of the sound of his voice, or his actions, or the way that his eyes seemed to close for just a moment. "No problem. And…" He scratched the back of his helmet and added embarrassedly, "if you want—if it'll make you feel better—you can always sleep in my armor…if you want."

Her blush deepened, and she nodded. "Thank you…." She finished wiping at her eyes and didn't really know what to do with her hands anymore, so she put them in her lap. "I honestly…do not know what I would do without you two," she admitted.

Al gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You'd figure out something." He looked up at the sun. "It should be almost time for lunch. You head inside and I'll clean this chalk up."

Delilah nodded again, this time smiling, and went back inside to clean up before eating. Izumi had made roast beef, and Delilah helped her set it out on the table. Soon, Mason and Sig came in from the shop and ate with them. Alphonse apparently remained outside—no one was concerned, since he didn't need to eat anyways. Izumi voiced the assumption that he'd gone for a walk, and it was left at that.

Delilah felt especially happy as she ate; it was as if there was a candle lit somewhere in her body, warming her from the inside out. Of course, she hadn't forgotten about what she had said about Marcoh and her parents, but those thoughts were pushed to the side for now. She had been feeling apprehensive about revealing those worries to Ed and Al (well, so far, it was just Al), even after Izumi's assurances that the boys wouldn't want her to keep anything from them. And now that Alphonse had helped her through her confession—more than helped, actually—she had nothing but hopeful thoughts running through her head.

_'I promise you, I'm going to help you however I can.'_

The memory of Al's words made her blush again. She wondered why; certainly, she felt that if Ed said the same thing, she wouldn't have such a reaction. What made Alphonse so special? After all, both he and Ed were her friends, and she loved them—

The thought sidetracked her. She loved them. Like…well, she wasn't sure, but she knew at once that it had to be defined as some sort of love. She could only really compare it to the love she had for Marcoh, but it was still different. She loved Marcoh as a daughter loves a father. Perhaps she adored Ed and Al as if they were her brothers. But…what sort of love would make her blush? She certainly didn't care for one brother more than the other, but now, when she thought of Alphonse, a different feeling pooled in her as opposed to when she thought of Edward.

"What're you smiling about?" Izumi asked slyly.

Delilah jolted out of her reverie. "Oh," she said; she hadn't been aware that she had been smiling. She found herself too embarrassed to confess, so she half-lied. "Alphonse says my alchemy is getting really good."

Izumi didn't really seem to buy it, but apparently Mason and Sig did. "Did you make anything interesting today?" Mason asked, and the conversation drifted from there.

Afterwards, once the dishes were done, Al still hadn't come back. Izumi wasn't too concerned.

"He probably found a stray," she muttered. "Goodness knows he'd lose track of time if he found a stray."

The thought made Delilah smile. If Al had found a cat, she would've liked to have gone out with him, but then again, he had gone off on his own. She didn't want to intrude. He probably wanted to be alone for a while, for whatever reason.

To pass the time, she began to work more on her transmutation gloves. The hours ticked by, and before she knew it, Izumi was calling her for dinner. Satisfied with her work (she had finally finished on the left glove and planned to try it out tomorrow), Delilah rose from her seat in the living room and went into the kitchen.

"You haven't see Al, have you?" Sig asked the general group as they sat down.

Delilah became worried. "You mean he is not back yet?"

"What could he be up to?!" Izumi asked irritably.

"You know, boss, I'm a little worried," Mason said. He held up a finger and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Maybe he was kidnapped."

Izumi looked at him squarely before she burst out laughing. "Yeah, right!" she said, and Mason and Sig joined in her laughter. "Like that could ever happen!"

Delilah couldn't share their joke. As soon as Mason had suggested the idea—even _if _he had been joking—the thought had taken root in her mind, leaving her confused and worried. What if Alphonse really was in trouble? What if he _was _kidnapped?

After Izumi quieted down, she noticed Delilah's expression. "Don't worry, Delilah, he'll probably be back by morning."

He wasn't.

()()()()()

Delilah didn't sleep. She lay down in her bed—forgetting to take her medicine—and stared at the door. The absences of Ed's snoring and the sound of Al flipping pages as he read fed her anxious thoughts. Her mind switched between the brothers, coming up with awful circumstances for the both of them. Since Alphonse's lack of presence was unexplained, her thoughts drifted more to him. What could've happened to him? Was Ed okay, too?

_What if they left me?_

She shook her head immediately, remembering Al's words. He was the most sincere and genuine person she knew, and she trusted him—and of course she trusted Ed, too. They wouldn't just leave her, and she felt guilty for even thinking such a thing.

The hours passed slowly, and Delilah wasn't even able to imagine a distant clank of armor, let alone hear it.

The door finally opened at the crack of dawn, but it wasn't Al who opened it, like she had been hoping. Instead, Izumi stood in the doorway.

"Quick," the woman ordered. "Change and eat. We're going to look for him."

()()()()()

The search lasted for hours, and Delilah was exhausted by the time lunch came around. Izumi noticed, and Delilah was forced to admit about her insomnia. Izumi needed to hear no more before she dragged the girl home and commanded her to take her medicine and hit the hay for a few hours. Delilah was reluctant—she was anxious about finding Alphonse—but Izumi won, and not long after, Delilah fell asleep, consumed by her medicine and fatigue.

When she awoke, she noted that only a few hours had passed. For a moment, she lay on her bed, peaceful, before the memories of what had happened came back to her. She sat straight up, her worry for Al causing her movements to be jerky, and hurried out of the room.

_"Al was what?!"_

Delilah stopped short before she could enter the kitchen. She easily recognized that the voice was Ed's, but for some reason, she was too nervous to see him just then. What he had said—that something had happened _to _Al, not that Al had just gone missing—didn't match up with what she knew. She must have missed something while she was asleep.

For the slightest moment, she was angry at Izumi for making her rest.

Edward continued. "What do you mean, 'kidnapped'? What happened?"

Delilah thought he heart stopped. _Kidnapped?_

"Things got a little complicated," Izumi muttered, just loud enough to be heard. Delilah realized that Izumi must have met the kidnappers for her to know what had happened to Alphonse.

"But why?" Ed asked. "Do they want a ransom?"

"They want information about Al's soul," Izumi explained. "They want me to bring you to them."

"Who in the world would want to know something like that?"

"…A man named Greed, with an Ouroboros tattoo on his hand. It's hard to believe, but apparently he's a real homunculus."

Delilah was only vaguely aware that the conversation was still taking place. An Ouroboros… A homunculus? She didn't know what that was. But that tattoo must have meant that this "Greed" was like Envy, and that woman Ed saw…. Were they all homunculi?

She felt nauseated. All she could see in her mind's eye was the Ouroboros and Envy's perverse smile and the blood on her hand and Alphonse being subjected to some sort of torture, his body twisted and torn into scattered scraps, claws scraping at his blood seal—

"Hey, Delilah." Izumi snapped her fingers in front of Delilah's face, bringing her back to the present. The woman then smiled in relief, before getting angry. "You idiot, you should be asleep! And you worried me just now; you wouldn't respond to me. Are you okay?"

Delilah ignored the question. "A homunculus took Alphonse? What is that? You went after him?" She asked all this in a rush, and she suddenly remembered the beggar and what Alphonse had called him. "Were there chimeras there? Is that—?"

"Whoa, there," Izumi said, placing her hands on Delilah's shoulders. The woman seemed worried. "Calm down."

"I want to know what happened to Alphonse!" Delilah insisted. She obeyed Izumi and spoke more quietly and slowly, but she couldn't stop tears from leaking out of her eyes.

Izumi opened her mouth, and for a moment nothing came out. She looked at war with herself.

"Please," Delilah said.

Izumi softened. "I went to a place called the Devil's Nest. Alphonse is being held there by some thugs—I suppose they're chimeras, but I've never heard of humanoid ones—and a homunculus named Greed. A homunculus…is an artificially-created human being. It's supposed to be impossible to create them…but there was no doubt that he was…_superhuman."_

"Did they hurt Alphonse?"

"No. They just want to exchange him for information; apparently they don't want to hurt him."

A huge burden lifted from Delilah, and she let out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. She wanted to know more about this Greed guy, but she figured that Izumi didn't have much information. "What is a chimera?"

Izumi frowned. "You don't know? Surely Marcoh explained something about them?"

Delilah shook her head. "There were a lot of things the doctor did not tell me about. But…on the day we were late coming back here, we met some man…with a tail. I overheard Al call him a chimera, but I did not ask."

Izumi didn't look remotely pleased. "Those boys… Anyway. They're hybrid animals made with alchemy. It's a tricky business done only by a few people, all of them State Alchemists. But the people I saw…were _people _combined with animals_. _That shouldn't be possible. Well, not ethical, at least."

Delilah suddenly felt drained. "Is that it?"

"Well, apparently the Fuhrer has dropped by here in Dublith—in secret, of course," Izumi explained, and Delilah was surprised at the news, though she said nothing. "I'm not sure what that'll do, though. He tried to see me to try and convince me to become a _State Alchemist, _hah!" Izumi laughed a little before she sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Your hand!" Delilah said, noticing the bandages. For a moment, she allowed herself to think about what was in front of her rather than what wasn't. "Let me heal it," she said, and Izumi allowed her to lead the way into the kitchen to sit at the table. The girl drew a quick circle on the table and unwrapped the bandages around Izumi's hand to reveal bloody knuckles that were quickly repaired with alchemy.

"You're good at that," Izumi noted. "I've never gone into healing alchemy."

"I want to help people with it, however I can," Delilah admitted.

Izumi smiled. "That's good."

A silence settled between them, and the weight came back onto Delilah once again. "Where did Edward go?"

"To get his brother. I told him to be back home in time for dinner."

Delilah felt cold. "So…we just wait?"

"Until then, yes."

* * *

_a/n: Uuuum, I can't remember the last time I updated, but I know it wasn't TOO long ago... XD;; Anyway, I have to admit...I flailed at my own writing. I fangirled over my own writing. Because Alphonse. And Delilah. *sobbu* I ship them...very hard..._

_Anyway, yeah, Al got kidnapped, Delilah realized that she feels a "certain" way about him...hehehehfkljas;fanhsdf;kla *falls over* Sorry... Ahem, anyway, more to come in the next chapter! I know some of you wondered if Delilah would meet Greed, but that wasn't really what I had planned. *shrug*_

_In any case, I'm not sure when the next update will be! I'm going to be super busy with school soon, I think. And my sister had twins yesterday! TWINS! Two. Babies. That are going to live in our attached apartment/refurbished garaged. Cute babies. Crying babies. Two. Babies. *sobs because there's never going to be a peaceful night again*_

_Anyway, I have to go. Please take the time to review, it means a lot to me!_


	20. Chapter 20

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, I only own my own OCs._

* * *

Twenty

The waiting was horrible.

Delilah remembered how she had waited for Ed and Al on the night they snuck off to Laboratory Five, and how they actually hadn't come back. What if Ed ended up in the hospital again? What if he couldn't rescue Alphonse?

A whole slew of thoughts raced through her head as she sat around, and some ideas lingered in her mind longer than others. Izumi tried to get her to help in the kitchen, but even then Delilah was so distracted that she almost ended up cutting off her own finger.

Izumi snatched the knife away from her. "…Maybe you should get some fresh air, dear."

Delilah nodded absently and left through the side door out into the small alley. The sky was starting to darken, finally, and the air was starting to get cooler. Delilah was only a little aware of it, but she was grateful; her entire body felt hot with her confusion. Her lack of sleep—even though she had taken a short nap—was starting to catch up to her a little bit, and part of her wanted to close her eyes and sleep. She sat on the steps and shut her lids, but of course, no sleep came.

With the darkness and relative silence, it was easy to forget about the world around her. Even the cold stone beneath her felt distant. All she thought about were the brothers, and all she could do was hope that they would come back safe.

She was so intent on her thoughts that she was sure she imagined the distant clanking that sounded some time later. But when it came closer, she opened her eyes.

Ed frowned as he came into sight of her in the dark alley. "Del? What're you doing out here?"

"Edward!" She ignored his question and shot to her feet, feeling elated. When Alphonse's hulking figure appeared out of the shadows behind Ed, her eyes widened in amazement. "Alphonse!" she called, dashing toward him.

But she stopped short.

Alphonse was plastered with blood.

Delilah tried to hide her gasp behind her hands, but she was late. She was relieved—surely that blood couldn't be _Al's, _and Ed seemed all right—but also incredibly shocked to see Al in such a state. Although she didn't outright sob, tears started to leak from her eyes.

The boys' reaction was immediate: they both flailed.

"Ah! Delilah, it's okay; please don't cry!"

"Del—Al, make her stop!"

"What do you expect _me _to do?!"

Delilah's mood was brightening at their antics when the door suddenly slammed open to reveal an irate Izumi, whose presence immediately instilled silence. Ed, Al, and Delilah froze while the woman evaluated the boys with a critical eye.

"EDWARD," she barked, and the boy balked. "Go inside and get something to clean your brother with. And Alphonse, start explaining."

And so, while Ed started inside, Al began a reluctant account of how he was kidnapped and by whom. He described the chimeras and the homunculus Greed with only the bare details, and how Ed had come for him. By this time in the conversation, Ed had come back outside with a bucket of water and a couple of rags, and he added his own account of how he battled Greed and how the military invaded the Devil's Nest and chaos ensued until all the chimeras had been slaughtered.

A prolonged silenced fell upon the group. Throughout the explanation, horror had crept its way up Delilah's spine, but she knew that something else hadn't been yet said. Part of her suspected the answer as she gazed at Al's bloodied body, but she didn't want to accept it.

"Alphonse," said Izumi, her voice quiet. It was impossible to tell if she was probing him to speak or assuring him that he could stay silent. Perhaps Izumi couldn't decide, or didn't know.

"…There was a chimera," Alphonse explained, his voice barely above a whisper. "She was supposed to keep me from running away by sitting in my armor and controlling my limbs a little, but when the military came I tried to protect her…. The Fuhrer came over and she got mad and…she forced me to hold him by the throat and…his sword…"

Delilah forgot to breathe. She could imagine it. The Fuhrer himself…that chimera…_inside Alphonse…_the stab of a sword…

There was silence for a moment before Izumi turned away. "…Get yourselves cleaned up. Dinner'll be ready sometime soon," she said before heading back inside.

The trio of kids stood still before Ed rapped Al's shoulder with his knuckles. "Let's get you cleaned up, then."

"M-may I help?" Delilah asked.

Ed glanced at Alphonse, and when the little brother said nothing, the elder Elric smiled at Delilah. "Sure. You get his chest and I'll make sure he's all clean inside."

()()()()()

Ed withdrew from Al's insides. "Good as new, Bro." He tossed the bloody cloth into the bucket of water behind him, and a bit of liquid splashed dangerously close to Delilah's leg.

"I am almost done here," Delilah added, wiping more of the dried blood off of Al's chest plate.

"Thanks," Al said quietly.

Both Ed and Delilah looked to the armor-boy. "You okay, Al?" Ed asked.

"Uh-huh," Al said, turning his head to face them. "I'm just in a daze, that's all."

Delilah's heart dropped. _That chimera..._

Ed was apparently thinking the same thing. "Al, it's not your fault."

Al held up a hand. "Oh, no, it's not about that. I got it back, the memory of when my body was taken away."

"…You did not remember that?" Delilah asked, confused.

The brothers shared a glance before looking back at her. "Hey, Del, I'll clean the rest of Al's armor. You head back inside, it's starting to get chilly," Ed said.

The night air was starting to get colder, but it was hardly noticeable. Delilah opened her mouth, about to say that she was fine and could finish cleaning Al's chest plate by herself, but when she noticed the look in Ed's eyes, she stopped. For once, she understood a look. The boys had their secrets, and they didn't trust her with them.

What this what Winry felt like when the brothers never told her anything? This hollow ache in her heart? This thing that had been caused by worry and fear and the feeling of being betrayed, because she trusted them but they didn't trust her? Was this what it was?

But she simply nodded and put her cloth back in the bucket before heading inside to wash her hands. She scrubbed them clean, but she kept imagining that they felt slightly sticky.

()()()()()

That night, Delilah couldn't sleep. She'd even taken her medicine—Edward had made her—and although it made her a little drowsy, her thoughts were racing.

She knew Alphonse was just somewhere else in the house, but she couldn't stop thinking about how just yesterday he had been kidnapped. How just yesterday he had said all those things to her and was then suddenly gone.

And so much had happened to him in so little time…she felt horrible about it. She couldn't stop seeing in her mind all the blood that had stained Al's armor. It was as if the sight had tainted her as well.

If she could have stopped it from happening to him, she would have.

She eventually rose out of bed and headed to the bathroom, stepping quietly to avoid waking up Ed. When she was done in the bathroom, she was about to head back to her room when she noticed a shadow on the ground, originating from in the living room. It wasn't hard to recognize the outline.

She padded into the room and looked to where Alphonse sat in front of the window, the moonlight gleaming off his armor as he stared outside. He noticed her come into the room and he shifted his gaze to her, and she could see that his eyes were drooping.

Neither spoke. Delilah wanted him to say something happy, as if nothing had happened. Her heart ached for him; she knew what it was like to watch people die, but she had only seen the old and worn-out people go, never anyone murdered. Never anyone…so _physically _close, not like what had happened to the chimera…. She wanted to comfort him, but she also wanted everyone to act as they always had, as if nothing had happened.

"…Not tonight, Delilah," he said finally, brokenly. He put a hand on his chest plate. "Not tonight."

_"If you want—if it'll make you feel better—you can always sleep in my armor…if you want."_

She stared at him.

…_no_…

She turned.

She hadn't wanted to ask that. She would never have asked that after what had happened to him. She couldn't deny that she would have wanted that, though. His words hurt her, though she forgave him, but more than that, she was shaken by how hurt _he_ was.

She didn't know how to deal with it, so she fled back to her room.

Tears leaked from her eyes, and she was too distraught to remember to keep quiet. She closed the door behind her with more force than necessary, and the noise caused Ed to jerk awake.

"W-what?!" He sat up and looked around before his eyes settled on Delilah, leaning against the door and doing her best to wipe away her tears. "D-Del?"

"I…sorry," she hiccupped, sniffing. She didn't look at him. "I did not mean…"

Ed sat paralyzed for a moment before he dashed out of bed and came to her side. "P-please don't cry, Del, I don't know how to deal with crying people…! Uh, what's wrong?"

Perhaps at one time she would have hesitated, but her feelings for Ed and Al had grown, and she trusted them with her life, even if there were things they kept from her. "Alphonse…misunderstood me. I think I hurt him, and…I am worried about him…."

Ed gave her a sad smile. "I don't think Al could ever get mad at you, if that's what you're thinking. But tonight…is a bad night for him."

"I-I know—"

"No, you don't." Ed's expression became bitter. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Of course he's upset about…what happened today, but I don't doubt for a second that the chimeras didn't remind him of N…Nina."

Delilah's tears stopped, forgotten, as she stared at the boy in front of her.

He dry-swallowed. His voice grew quiet and strained. "Nina…was a little girl we couldn't save. Her father studied bio-alchemy, and we went to look at his research to see about getting our bodies back. Shou Tucker was a State Alchemist and he studied and made chimeras. At the time, his State Alchemist exam was coming up and he was stressed. He…first got his license when he made a chimera that could talk. It only said…that it wanted to die. And it didn't eat until it did."

Ed looked down at the floor and his whole body trembled. Delilah found that she didn't want to hear any more. That maybe the line that she was about to cross shouldn't be crossed in the first place. But she didn't stop Edward, because part of her was pleased that he trusted her enough to tell her something.

That pleasure didn't last very long.

"T-that chimera…w-was Tucker's wife. And to renew his license, he combined Nina—his own _daughter_—with her dog, Alexander. Later that day, Scar killed them both."

Edward put his face in his hands, hiding his expression. "There was nothing we could've done for her…. Nothing."

The wetness returned to Delilah's eyes, spilling out onto her cheeks. She felt too full of emotion, and it hurt. She put her hands on Edward's flesh arm. "Edward…you did not have to tell me…."

Ed pulled his hands away from his face to reveal reddening eyes. "No, I did. You deserve to know. You're our friend, after all." He sighed and patted her on the head. "Don't worry. Al will be back to normal in no time. For now, we should leave him alone."

_Alone?_

No, that wasn't right. Delilah knew how it felt to be alone. How it felt to stay awake all night, unable to think of pleasant things, unable to dream of happy times. At least she had the means of being able to sleep.

She shook her head. "I cannot, Edward." Something came over her, and she gave the boy a quick hug—much to his surprise—before she turned away from him and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Ed didn't come after her.

She went into the living room to find that Al hadn't moved from his spot. Not bothering to keep her steps quiet like she usually did, she marched over and sat on one edge of the couch, right beside the chair in which Alphonse sat. He shifted in surprise and stared at her, but she spoke first.

"All I ever do is cry nowadays, and that is not fair to you. If it will make you feel better, I will cry for you, and not for myself. If it will make you feel better, I will sit here with you. If it will make you feel better, you may talk to me. Because…it is lonely, being an insomniac."

Alphonse made a noise as if he was going to say something, but nothing came out. He just stared at her, and Delilah felt nerves worm their way into her stomach, but she did her best to ignore it. "I will be right here, unless you really want me to leave," she whispered.

And so she sat there, staring back at him.

After several moments, Alphonse nodded. "Thank you," he said, somehow managing to sound glad and downcast at the same time. And then he went back to looking out the window, and the two of them remained silent for the rest of the night.

()()()()()

Delilah must have nodded off during the night because when she awoke on the couch, a blanket was draped over her. Predawn light streamed in through the window, and she lay still for a moment, appreciating how quiet it was.

Alphonse still sat in the chair. She watched him for a moment. If she were ignorant, she wouldn't have any idea that he was more than just a suit of armor. He was so still that it would be hard for the average person to think that he wasn't placed in the chair on purpose. But Delilah knew better. He was just as human as anybody else, just as afraid as anybody else. In the grand scheme of one being all and all being one, he wasn't anything special; he was just another person. So was she.

Despite that, she felt that he was something incredible, even if he couldn't smile or wasn't warm.

He noticed that she was awake and turned to her, ending the silent moment when his armor rattled slightly. "Good morning. You fell asleep so I got you a blanket."

Her face felt hot, and she hoped that he didn't notice. "Thank you."

"You should probably get up. We have to catch a train to Rush Valley in a little over an hour. Brother needs to get his arm fixed, and then we're heading back to Central."

It had seemed like forever since they had been there. "All right." She sat up but didn't move.

Alphonse cocked his head. "What is it?"

"…I was really worried about you," she admitted. "And…I wish you would tell me things. You and Edward, I mean. But he…told me about Nina last night."

"Oh." With just the simple word, Alphonse's voice had become strained.

"I…want you to know that you can talk to me, Alphonse," she said. "I mean…I said that last night, I guess. But…I will not leave you and Edward, either."

She was too embarrassed with herself, so she went to get ready before he could respond.

* * *

_a/n: Wow, everything is really really depressing right now. And that's saying something because it's 1:30am here and I'm just a little bit out of it and I'm surprised that I updated today but oh well~~~_

_Next chapter will have Ling (or at least it should), so OMG YAY I LOVE LING LET'S LAUGH AND ACTUALLY HAVE SOME HAPPY TIMES IN THIS FIC HOW ABOUT THAT I think that sounds wonderful because this is/is going to be a really depressing fucking fic wow_

_um okay sorry, I'm rambling. I do that when I'm tired. This chapter was shorter than usual but I didn't really feel like adding another scene to it because I was planning the AlxDel scene for like ages here so yeah that's good that's good. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon because it's winter vacation now~~_

_Speaking of which, Happy Holidays, everyone! Stay safe! Give a gift! Do charity work or something. Idk. Don't eat yellow snow. Read and review. OH REALLY DO THAT I'M ALMOST AT 100 REVIEWS AND THAT WOULD BE PRETTY AWESOME JUST SAYING._


	21. Chapter 21

_DISCLAIMER: Sorry. Do not own FMA. Only own fic & OC(s). Arigatou, ne._

* * *

Twenty-One

Alphonse was in quite a peculiar state of mind. He had been kidnapped by chimeras and a homunculus, and one of said chimeras had been slain inside him, and that action had triggered his memories of being swallowed by the Portal and having his body taken by Truth. He was saddened by the death and honestly frightened by the memories; in all, his emotions were muddled and confusing.

But he had to move on. He would always have to move on with his brother. Slowing down or turning back could potentially be disastrous to their mission. Mourning for too long wasn't allowable.

But, just like Nina, he would never forget Martel.

At least he knew that Edward and Delilah were there for him.

The thought of the girl made him a bit happy, to be honest. He was her friend, so of course he'd be there for her, but to hear her say that she would be there for him too made him want to smile. She had essentially said the same thing before—when she had been trying to protect them all from Envy's threat—but hearing her say it actually made a huge impact, especially in the state that Alphonse was in last night. He felt a little guilty about it, but he was actually a little glad that Delilah knew what it was like to never be able to escape from thoughts during the nighttime. She understood, and even though he'd always had his brother, he felt a little less alone with her there, too.

Alphonse waited patiently while Ed and Delilah got ready to leave. Ed had already taken a shower the night before, so he was prepared to go even when Delilah was shutting herself in the bathroom for a while.

"Hope she doesn't make us late for the train," Ed muttered, only half-joking.

Alphonse would have smiled. "She won't, I'm sure."

At that moment, Izumi walked into the room and beckoned Ed and Al into the kitchen. The brothers shared a confused (and terrified) look before they followed her. The woman closed the door behind them and motioned for them to sit down at the table.

"Okay, boys, let's make this quick," Izumi began, crossing her arms. "If anything bad happens to that girl, I'll come after you both _myself._"

The boys flinched. When Al recovered, he said, "Of course we won't let anything happen to her, Teacher. Why are you telling us this?"

"Because trouble seems to follow you everywhere," Izumi said. "But anyway, I just want you to remember that she is physically more fragile than the average girl…but something tells me she'll become more resilient," she added in a mutter. "In any case, don't you two be stupid; and pay attention to her, because she seems to bottle herself up and that's no good for anyone."

"…I noticed," Al admitted, remember how he had comforted Delilah the other day.

"_We _noticed," Ed corrected.

"If anything happens, you can always send her back here. We'd be grateful to have her, but I know that's not what she wants." She suddenly sighed and looked hard at the boys. "And there's one last thing: I think that you should tell her everything, so long as you're her teachers. For example…I didn't warn you about human transmutation, and look where that got you."

There was a moment of silence.

Ed frowned. "We've told her that."

Al was already shaking his head, recalling how they had told Delilah to leave the other night so that the two of them could talk in private about how Al's memories of the Portal had returned. "No. We've told her we've done it and it's obvious what the consequences were, but we haven't told her everything. Not about Truth, nor about alchemy without a circle. And as long as she's our student—and our friend—I think she deserves to know the truth."

Ed sighed. "…I guess." He turned back to Izumi. "Do you need to tell us anything else, Teacher?"

"Just that you should be really careful. I have a feeling that something is definitely up with the military, especially after that slaughter yesterday. Don't let your guards down."

"Yes, Teacher," the brothers chorused.

"…And don't forget to call or drop by," Izumi added. "And DON'T get yourselves killed, or I'll kill you myself!" she snapped.

"Y-yes, Teacher!"  
()()()()()

Izumi gave Delilah a hug. "Don't forget that you're always welcome here," the woman told her. "Come and visit sometime, okay?"

Delilah smiled. When she had first come to Dublith, she hadn't expected to become so attached to the stern woman, but now she realized that she would miss Izumi. "I will."

"Take care of yourselves," Sig said as Ed, in a hurry, practically dragged Delilah away from Izumi and onto the train.

"We will!" Al promised, following after his brother and friend. 'Tell Mason we said goodbye!"

There was a chorus of farewells before Ed led the way into the train compartment and found the group a place to sit, which was easy to do since the train car was mostly deserted; there weren't many travelers around the Dublith area.

"Ugh, I can't wait to get this fixed," Ed muttered, flexing his arm. The parts were still mostly functional, but a few of the outermost pieces were missing, exposing the chords and gears in his forearm.

"You're lucky you didn't completely break it again," Al noted.

"Winry would kill you," Delilah added.

"…She's still going to hit me," Ed moaned.

Delilah simply smiled before she pulled out her transmutation gloves. The left one, with its more basic circle, was finished, but the other one wasn't.

"How're you coming along on that?" Al asked, ignoring his brother's near-apocalyptic complaints.

Delilah picked up the right glove and pointed at its palm. "I traced an outline for the circle. I was thinking about using my left glove to transmute the thread into the cloth to make it permanent…."

"Try it," Al encouraged.

Ed sat up straight, forgetting about his impending doom for the moment. "Go ahead, Del."

She was a bit nervous at having them both watch her work with the gloves that she had never even tried before, but she obliged. She slipped on the left glove and found the red thread she had been using to stitch in the circles. She took a breath and focused her energy, and with a small flash of light, a transmutation circle that would've taken her hours to stitch was done in an instant.

Delilah blinked in astonishment and inspected her work. "It…looks all right."

"Here, try it out on me," Ed offered, rolling up his sleeve and showing Delilah his flesh arm. There was a fresh scar on his bicep.

"O-okay." Delilah put on the glove and held it just over Ed's skin. Once more she focused, and there was a small flash of light before Ed's skin healed. All that was left was a faint line where the cut had been.

"That's amazing," Al praised, and she did her best to fight a blush.

"I am just happy that I will not always have to draw a circle whenever I transmute," she admitted. "It might be useful."

At her words, Ed looked at his hands, and when Al noticed his actions, he grew quiet as well. Delilah noticed their looks and became concerned.

"…Is something wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

Ed took a breath. "There's…something we should tell you."

Al glanced around quickly to make sure no one was close by. "…We haven't told you everything about human transmutation."

The sudden turn in the conversation had thrown Delilah for a loop. "What do you mean?"

"Teacher suggested we should tell you…and we think you should know everything," Al explained.

"But I thought I did know everything," she said. "You performed it and Edward lost his arm and leg and you lost your body."

"I only lost my leg when we tried to transmute our mother," Ed said quietly.

Delilah stared at him in confusion. "What?"

Ed sighed. "When you perform human transmutation, you open the Portal and it drags you in and takes you to this white place where this…_thing _called Truth lives. It's…a white _body_, for lack of a better word."

"You get pulled through your own alchemic gate," Al continued when his brother paused. "Alchemic knowledge just…pours into you. But then, Truth collects a toll from you in equivalent exchange." He moved his steel arms to prove his point. "After you come back, alchemy is easier to understand and perform, and…"

"…you can transmute without circles," Ed finished. "When I lost my leg, Al's whole body was being sucked into the Portal," Ed said, staring at his hands. "I performed the transmutation and gave up my arm to bind his soul to the armor."

There was a long pause. "…That's basically it, I think," Al finished.

Delilah stared at them silently, running the information through her head while the brothers fidgeted.

"…And you are telling me this because you do not want me to commit human transmutation?" she asked.

"It's not worth it," Ed said immediately. "You can't bring the dead back to life, Del. And all the alchemic knowledge may be a plus, but Truth took my limbs, Teacher's organs, and Al's whole body. It's not worth it."

Delilah didn't know what to say.

"You have to promise us that you won't do it, Delilah," Alphonse begged, leaning forward.

"Please, Del," Ed added.

She stared at them in shock. Why would she want to bring someone back to life? There was no one beyond the grave that she wanted to bring back…unless Marcoh was actually dead. Simply thinking "what if" was one thing, but part of her knew that if she surrogate father actually was dead, human transmutation would be tempting.

"Del—" Ed began.

"W-what if the doctor is dead?" she whispered.

"Then you still can't do it," Al told her. "You'd only end up hurting yourself, and Marcoh wouldn't want that. And we don't want that, which is why we're telling you not to do it." He reached forward and grabbed her hand. "Please promise us, Delilah."

Ed followed his brother's lead and grabbed Delilah's free hand with his own automail one, but didn't say anything.

She stared at them both, seeing in their eyes all the hurt and struggles they had gone through. It was enough—far more than enough—to sway her.

"I promise."

()()()()()

The rest of the ride was spent discussing why the brothers wanted to go back to Central. Delilah was as confused as they were as to why the Fuhrer would want to cover up all the chimeras by killing them, but she was in quite a state of shock. It was hard to think of the Fuhrer in such a light after having met a seemingly friendly man. She spent most of the hour-long ride in silence, turning over all the information in her mind.

Unsurprisingly, Rush Valley was no different than it had been when they'd last visited. Ed muttered some rather obscene things under his breath as the trio made their way through the streets. Thankfully, Al remembered the way to Garfiel's shop, and he led the group there. The closer they got, the more excited Al and Del became at the fact that they were going to see Winry; on the other hand, Ed was getting more and more depressed.

"Maybe if I act like nothing's wrong, she won't hit me," he muttered.

So when they finally got to Garfiel's shop, he did just that. But Winry still smacked him with her wrench.

Other than that, meeting up with Winry made Delilah incredibly happy, and after the girls hugged, the whole game of catching-up occurred. Paninya happened to be at the shop, too—she explained that she was changing her ways and working for a living by fixing roofs. She, Al, and Delilah talked for a little bit while Winry assessed the damage on Ed's arm and asked about Dublith. Ed only told her that they'd made a _little _progress—and she didn't seem impressed (most likely because she could easily tell that Ed wasn't telling her something)—and mentioned that they were going to Central next to do some research.

"You're going to _Central? _I wanna go, too!" the mechanic exclaimed.

"Why, Winry?" Delilah asked.

She let out a modest chuckle. "I actually want to see Mr. Hughes and his family and thank them for letting me stay with them!"

"Oh, I will go with you, then!" Delilah said, remembering back to Elicia's birthday party. That seemed like a lifetime ago already.

"We never did thank him properly for when he helped out while I was in the hospital," Ed said.

"…I have to work, though," Winry realized.

Garfiel overheard her. "It's all right, Winry, dear. You've been working like a busy little bee ever since you came here. Take some time off, I insist! You deserve it."

"Thank you, Mr. Garfiel!" Winry exclaimed before turning back to the brothers and Delilah. "Well, I guess we're all going!"

()()()()()

Winry had to go and make sure she had all the parts to fix Ed's arm, so the brothers and Delilah headed out into the streets. Paninya was too busy to hang out with them, and Ed was extremely opposed to spending quality time with "Mr. Rainbow," as he put it. He even felt that it was better to brave Rush Valley than stay in the shop.

"This place is so boring. The only things here are automail shops!" he complained as they trudged along.

"You seem to be happy, Alphonse," Delilah noticed, ignoring Ed for the moment. There was a certain…lightness in Al's steps that she had noticed.

"That's because everyone thinks I have a full-body automail! I can walk around in peace without fearing that someone might discover my true nature." He waved at a couple of people passing by, and they cheerily waved back.

"I see what you mean," Ed commented.

He started to talk about something or other, but Delilah's attention was suddenly drawn to something lying in a nearby alley. She came closer to it—Al noticed as well and followed—and discovered that it wore a yellow jacket with white pants, had a sheathed sword, black hair—

Delilah immediately tugged on Al's hand. "H-he is unconscious…!"

Al fidgeted and looked back. "Come here, Brother!"

"You're acting like you do whenever you see a kitten. You find a stray or something?" Ed asked, not sounding pleased.

Al picked up the poor person and showed him to Ed. "Yup!"

Ed—understandably—was shocked, but he got over it pretty quickly and came forward to inspect the guy. "He's out cold, huh?"

"It looks that way," Al said.

Delilah felt the young man's wrist for a pulse. "He seems to be okay…just unconscious."

There was a loud growl, and the trio turned to the stranger's stomach.

"Take him back to wherever you found him," Ed said simply.

"How can you be so mean?!" Al and Delilah chorused.

Luckily (or perhaps unluckily, as Ed would later say), the two managed to convince Ed that they needed to help the person, and he begrudgingly agreed to take the guy to a food stand. Oddly, simply putting a plate of grub in front of the guy's face was enough to wake him up. He practically inhaled the food and begged for more, and before Ed's wallet knew it, a huge amount of food had been both ordered and eaten by the stranger.

When he was finished, the young man shouted in joy and thanked them earnestly for the meal. This led to Ed complaining that he didn't want to pay for something he didn't eat—and somehow that led to Ed thinking that he was being called short by whoever this guy was.

The young man ignored Ed's outburst, though. "I never expected to find such kindness so far from home," he said, over-exaggerating his words a little bit. "I am humbled by your generosity."

Delilah's curiosity—and concern, for the guy _had _just woken up—overcame her shyness of the stranger. "Um, are you from Xing?" she asked, judging by his accent, clothes, and rather narrow eyes.

He brightened. "Yup! Sure am."

"All the way from the _east?!" _Ed exclaimed. "Wasn't it hard crossing the desert?"

The stranger laughed. "'Hard' is an understatement. The desert is _merciless._" He leaned over and picked up a stick, drawing two circles in the dirt. He labeled one "Amestris" and the other "Xing." He drew two lines connecting the two "countries," but crossed one out. "With the railroad totally buried in sand, I had to brave the wasteland with horse and camel. For the final stretch, I followed the route through the ruins of Xerxes."

"Xerxes?" Ed repeated. "But I heard that there's nothing there."

"There's just a legend that says that it was destroyed in a single night," Alphonse added. "Are you here as a tourist?"

"No," the stranger said. "I'm here to gather information. I came to research your country's alkahestry."

Delilah vaguely recognized the word. "Xingese alchemy, right?"

"Ah yes, that's your word for it!" the stranger said. "Alkahestry is used for medical purposes, but you all use it for science, don't you?"

"I use it for medicinal purposes," Delilah explained.

"Usually it's used for military reasons, though. Guess it's a cultural difference," Ed said, taking the stick from the stranger and drawing more circles in the dirt diagram. "Even now we have continuous border conflicts with Aerugo to the south and Creta to the west. In the north is the nation of Drachma. We've signed a non-aggression treaty with them, but the only reason they don't attack us is because Mt. Briggs acts as a natural barrier. So the situation is unstable over there, too."

"What a tough country," the stranger sighed.

"There has always been some sort of fighting going on at any given time," Delilah said.

"It was only when Bradley became Fuhrer that war really became our life," Ed pointed out seriously.

"Maybe if we didn't focus so much on the military, alchemy would have developed a way to benefit the people, like in Xing," Alphonse said, and Ed agreed.

"D-do you think you could teach is more about alkahestry?" Delilah asked; she was intrigued about such a medical-based alchemy system.

"It sounds really interesting; I want to learn, too," Al said. Even Ed showed excitement at the idea.

"Oh, so are you three all alchemists?" the stranger asked.

"Yup, I'm Edward Elric, a state alchemist!"

"I'm Alphonse Elric. I'm the younger one, believe it or not."

"I-I am Delilah Heywood…. I want to be an alchemic doctor."

The stranger grinned brightly. "A state alchemist? How lucky I am to have met such talented people!" He rose to his feet and reached across the table to shake everyone's hands. "My name is Ling Yao! It's an honor!"

"So," Ed said once the introductions were over, "about that 'alkahestry' alchemy that you were talking about earlier…think you could give us a demonstration?"

"I'm afraid not!" Ling said, entirely good-naturedly. "I don't know how to do it!"

The trio of alchemists pretty much fell over.

"Then what are you researching alchemy for?!" Ed demanded.

Ling frowned in thought. "Hm… I'm _looking _for something. Perhaps you've heard of it…

_"…the Philosopher's Stone."_

()()()()()

"Old man! Bring me another one of your tasty desserts. Just put it on the armor brothers' tab."

Delilah could only stare at Ling. She wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but she had ended up alone with him while Ed and Al were busy fending off Ling's Xingese…bodyguards, she supposed.

As soon as he was done ordering, Ling stared right back at her and grinned. "Well, aren't you cute! Delilah, right?"

She nearly fell out of her chair.

Ling brought a hand to his chin in thought. "You're a little small for my tastes, though."

Once upon a time she wouldn't have gotten the implication, but since she had "become a woman," she'd become more self-conscious. Her face went red. "W-what are you doing to Edward and Alphonse?" she demanded, trying to ignore what he'd said.

"Me? Nothing. Oh, thanks, old man!" Ling said, accepting another dish from the waiter and digging into the dessert. "Oh, sorry, you want some?" he offered, extending a spoonful of something or other in her direction. She opened her mouth to refuse, but he stuck the spoon in her mouth, depositing some rather delicious chocolate cake inside before he pulled the spoon back and began eating again.

Delilah was distracted by the taste for a moment and took the time to enjoy it before she remembered herself and nearly choked when she hastily tried to swallow. "I-I mean—what are your…_people _doing to them?!"

"Oh, Lan Fan and Fu? They're fighting them. But only because they won't tell me anything about the Philosopher's Stone when they obviously know something. Don't worry, though; they aren't all going to get hurt or anything. Only if they resist too much."

"T-too much?!"

Ling waved away her worries like they were nothing. "Just relax!"

She couldn't. "…Who _are _you?"

He suddenly grinned and rested his elbow against the table, leaning closer. "You really wanna know?"

Suddenly she didn't, but she didn't move or say anything.

"The twelfth prince of Xing."

She stared at him.

"No, really, I am." He raised an eyebrow. "Want me to take you back to my palace to show you?"

"N-no!"

Ling just grinned. "I bet you say no just because you're pretty _attached _to one of those brothers. Which one? The big one, or the little one? Well, I guess that's potentially an…ambiguous question. Anyway!" he went on, ignoring Delilah's tomato-red face. He hopped to his feet and hurried around the table to grab her by the hand. "Let's go check on our friends, shall we?"

* * *

_a/n: Oh god, part of me thinks that Ling wasn't very in-character in that last scene, but I had fun writing it! XD I adore Ling. Also, just to note, pretty much all terms are going to come from the English dub, so it's alkahestry instead of "rendanshu/the purification arts" in the manga._

_anyway_

_ one hundred and ten. 110. reviews. REALLY. REALLY. jf;lasjfd;laksfj holy crap I love all of you. And Insomniacs has even been put in a community list! I'm so, so glad that you all seem to really like this story, and don't worry, I'm doing my best not to disappoint you all! For a little while, this story will have some relatively...normal stuff going on, I guess you could say; like going back to Central, meeting up with everyone there, and so on. However, I think we're starting to come close to where the story's going to take a dark turn. It definitely won't be for a few chapters. _

_The reason I'm kinda...nervous about it is because I consider it really dark and potentially disturbing to some readers. In the chapter before that, I'll put a trigger warning, and at the top of the actual chapter I'll put the reasoning for the trigger warning so as to avoid spoilers as much as possible. But then again, I will admit that I could VERY WELL be making a mountain out of a molehill. But I'd rather be careful and helpful to you all instead of being mean or something like that._

_Once again, thank you all very much for all the reviews and support! I'm going to be busy with other things for an indefinite amount of time, but I will always try to work on this fic in my spare time! Don't forget to leave a review on your way out, please and thank you!_


	22. Chapter 22

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA, I only own my own OC(s) and this fic itself._

* * *

Twenty-Two

Ling was…quite peculiar, to say the least. He was hard to get used to, as he was clingy, cheery, and innocent—and, as Edward put it, a pain in the ass. The Xingese kid feigned not to know Amestrian in order to get out of helping clean up the town; he wormed his way out of paying the bill for what he had eaten; and he kept trying to woo Winry. That seemed to particularly annoy Ed, though he would never admit it.

But aside from the initial shock of meeting such a…strange guy, Delilah found that she liked him…even though their personalities were pretty much polar opposites.

Somehow, Ling managed to tag along with them to Central, and Ed complained the whole way about how it was the Xingese kid's fault that he had to clean up the town with Al after their fight with Lan Fan and Fu, and how it was his fault that Ed's automail arm had been broken during the fight…et cetera.

Al tried to placate Ed by turning the conversation in a slightly different direction. "You must come from a really good family to have two personal servants, right, Ling?"

Delilah was about to open her mouth and repeat what Ling had told her yesterday about being the twelfth prince of Xing—not that she was sure about that, though all the evidence did seem to point in that direction—but Ling suddenly sent a conspiratorial wink in her direction, and she shut her mouth, her face becoming red. She was so flustered that she missed something that Ed said.

Ling responded easily, as if he hadn't done anything sneaky or hide the truth of his heritage (if that really was the case). "Well, it _is _dangerous for a _kid _to travel alone."

Confusion spread among the small group. "How old _are _you?" Al asked.

Ling gave another of his trademark, innocent grins. "I'm fifteen years old."

They were all floored.

Winry leaned toward Ed, though her voice was a little louder than it should have been. "Hey, you're almost sixteen, right?"

Ed jumped to his feet. "Stand up," he told Ling, and when the foreigner obliged, Ed compared their obvious height difference.

Ed shook in rage before he changed the subject. "Y-you have a freakish adult face!" he yelled, appalling Ling.

A short sword suddenly stabbed through the roof, almost hitting Ed. Said alchemist fell down in shock, staring up as a voice wafted from the new hole in the ceiling: "Don't you dare insult Master Ling…!"

"Lan Fan?" Ling questioned delightedly.

"They're on top of the train?!" Al gasped.

"Are they okay up there?" Winry and Delilah chorused.

Ed, on the other hand, was angered rather than concerned. "Those freeloaders think they can get a free ride, huh? Conductor!"

Ling laughed. "You don't honestly expect them to get caught so easily, do you?" (And, indeed, they weren't caught at all.) "Anyway…yeah, Alphonse, I do come from a really good family. I am the twelfth prince of Xing, after all."

"Master Ling! Not in front of the commoners!" It was Fu's voice that sounded this time.

"So you _are _one?" Delilah blurted.

Ling nodded. "Sure am."

"What—you knew about this?" Al asked her.

Ed burst out laughing before Delilah could answer. "_You? _A p-prince!"

Ling frowned. "What about it?"

"You're just a squinty-eyed kid!" Ed said between laughs.

This time, a kunai landed near his foot.

()()()()()

The ride to Central took a couple of days, and much of it passed with Ed arguing with Ling. That was why, when their train finally stopped in Central Station, everyone was relieved and elated—it was one thing to hear Ed argue, but to hear him argue endlessly was torture.

"Let's stop by headquarters first," Ed suggested as he led the way off the train. Delilah had forgotten how crowded some parts of Central could be; she stuck close to Al's side. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes works at the court martial office, right?"

"Uh-huh," Winry agreed.

"I wonder if he found out anything about the Philosopher's Stone," Al mused.

"Hmm…I dunno," Ed replied. "The Fuhrer _did _tell him to stay out of it."

Delilah suddenly remembered how menacing the Fuhrer had seemed back then and how menacing it had sounded when she'd learned that he'd led that killing force into the Devil's Nest. She found herself hoping for Hughes's sake that he'd heeded Bradley's advice.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Winry asked.

"None of your business!" Ed snapped.

Winry huffed. "That's what you always say!"

"Hey." Fu interrupted them, pretty much appearing out of nowhere. "Where's the prince?"

The foursome glanced around, but when Ling was nowhere to be seen, Ed shrugged. "Good riddance. C'mon guys, let's get going."

Delilah felt a little guilty about leaving Lan Fan and Fu in their deflated state, but she didn't hesitate to follow Ed, Al, and Winry.

"It feels like we have not been here in a long time," Delilah commented. She still remembered what had happened the last time they were there, and the memory caused her to inch closer to Alphonse. He noticed and looked down at her.

"Don't worry," he told her, and there was a smile in his voice. "If anything happens, I'll be right there."

She looked up into his eyes for a moment, touched by his words, before she realized what she was doing and looked down, blushing. Ed said something to Al, distracting the armor-boy, but Winry had caught the exchange. A sly grin formed on her face, but it disappeared before anyone could see it.

"Huh?" Ed said as they approached the north gate of headquarters. "Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

A woman who had been speaking to a few other officers turned around. Delilah was struck by how pretty she was, even with most of her form hidden by her bulky uniform. Her eyes were an appealing brown, and her long blonde hair was held up with a clip in the back.

"'Edward, Alphonse," she said in surprise, but with warmth all the same. "Have you guys been doing well?"

"Uh-huh, same as always," Ed replied.

Hawkeye turned to the girls in the group. "And who are your friends?"

"Oh, sorry, Lieutenant," Al apologized. "This is Delilah Heywood." The woman shook Delilah's hand, and she was surprised at Hawkeye's firm grip and calloused hands. "And this—"

"Oh, I remember you!" Winry exclaimed. Hawkeye apparently remembered her too, and the two exchanged happy pleasantries while the three alchemists were left a bit confused as to how exactly the two girls knew each other.

Ed suddenly froze. "Wait a minute…. If the lieutenant's here, then that means—"

"Hello, Fullmetal."

The slam of a car door caught the attention of the group, and they all turned with varying emotions to see the man who'd just come out of the car. Delilah, like with Hawkeye, was struck by how handsome the man was; he was fairly tall and broad-shouldered, and his ebony eyes were matched by his short, messy hair.

The man smirked. "What's this, Fullmetal? I didn't know you had your own entourage of girls."

Ed's face went red, and Al had to hold him back before he could do any damage.

The man ignored Ed and came over to Winry and Delilah, all the while smiling. He launched into a jolly, fast-passed soliloquy, but all Delilah could understand of it was "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist" and "if you two ever need any advice, don't hesitate to ask me!"

Delilah blinked. "The Flame Alchemist?"

Mustang brightened even more, if that was possible. "Yes? Perhaps you've heard of me? Oh, I'm sorry; I never got your name!"

"Oh, uh, Delilah Heywood…sir." He grinned at the word. "Um, Edward and Alphonse told me about your alchemy, and I-I hope you do not mind, but the idea of transmutation gloves seemed interesting, so I sort of…took the idea." She showed him her palms, and Mustang looked at them with curiosity.

"Impressive." He suddenly turned to Hawkeye. "Lieutenant," he said excitedly, "I think I have an admirer!"

Delilah, taken aback a bit, blushed slightly, and Hawkeye said, "Don't jump to conclusions, sir, it's not very polite."

Ed finally broke away from his brother. "What're you doing here, Colonel?" he asked, his voice strained with stress.

Mustang finally calmed, and turned to Ed. "I was transferred to Central a few days ago," he said importantly. "What brings _you _here?"

"I'm here for _research_," Ed spat. "I've been trying to find info on the Philosopher's Stone and Homunculi."

"Homunculi? What are you, stupid?" Mustang, now angered, put on the jacket that he had been holding. "You know the rules: 'No alchemist shall attempt to create a human being.' You think the military would leave information like that lying around?"

_He doesn't know they exist, _Delilah realized. It felt surreal to know something that a high-ranking official didn't.

Ed muttered something intelligible before he brightened a little. "Oh, one other thing. We thought we'd visit Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. How's he doing?"

Mustang had started walking away at this point, but he stopped and looked back at the expectant teenagers. "…He's gone…. He…moved back to the countryside. Things have been so dangerous here lately, so he took his wife and child and moved back to the country. He's going to take over the family business. You won't find him here."

Delilah frowned. She wasn't the only one who was disappointed, though. All of the teenagers expressed their disappointment at having missed Hughes. Delilah wished that they could have at least said goodbye to him before he'd left.

Mustang started walking away, and Hawkeye followed him. "The Philosopher's Stone and Homunculi, right? I'll let you know if I find anything. Oh…and Fullmetal, try to stay out of trouble. Don't get reckless."

Ed was perplexed, but said he wouldn't. When Mustang and Hawkeye had disappeared from sight, he turned to the rest of the group. "Well, now, I guess we'll just go check into a hotel for now. Let's get going."

()()()()()

Delilah was a little bit nervous at being in the military hotel again, since the last time she'd be there she'd been visited by Envy. She thanked whatever deity there was that she wasn't in the same room—not even the same _floor_—as before. Still, when Winry was in the bathroom, she double-checked that the windows were locked. She comforted herself with the fact that Ed and Al were in the other room, not far away at all.

When Winry came back out of the bathroom, Delilah was gathering some dirty clothes together that she was going to clean with alchemy later. She was so intent on her task that she didn't notice Winry come up behind her until the older girl spoke. "So, how was Dublith?"

Delilah jumped and dropped the clothes she'd been holding. "Oh, Winry…you scared me."

"Ah, sorry," Winry apologized. She sat down on the armrest of the couch and smiled at the younger girl. Delilah noticed that Winry was still wearing the white hair tie that she'd made for her. "So did you have fun with Ed and Al?"

"Yes, I did," Delilah replied, picking up what she'd dropped so she could fold it and put it on the table.

Winry continued on cheerily. "You really like them, don't you?"

Delilah was perplexed by the question. "Of course I do."

"Al's pretty nice, isn't he?" When Delilah didn't seem to get the hint, Winry added, "You _like _him, don't you?

Delilah's face went red. "O-of course. He is my friend."

"But you like him _more _than that, don't you?" Winry grinned.

Delilah played with her hands, not knowing what else to do. "I am not…sure?" Somehow it came out as a question.

"Well, does he make you feel happy?" Delilah nodded shyly. "Special?" Another nod. "Do you think he's special?" Again, but with an even redder face.

"It sounds like you do like him!" Winry beamed and suddenly enveloped Delilah in a hug. The younger girl felt like she was a whole puddle of embarrassed mush that had somehow been piled up into something solid, with a face that was far too hot.

"I…have never felt this way about anyone," she admitted after a moment. "I do not know if I like him like…_that _or if I just like him more than others or…"

Winry pulled away far enough to put her hands on Delilah's shoulders. "Well, it sounds that way to me." She smiled for a moment more before the look faded from her face. "To be honest…I never thought anyone would feel that way about him. Not with his body."

Delilah didn't know what to say.

Winry put on a smile. "But anyway! I'm going to get you two together if it's the last thing I do!"

The alchemist blushed once again and pulled away from Winry. "N-no, Winry, I—"

"Nothing's going to change between you two if you don't tell him how you feel," Winry pointed out. "Don't you want him to feel the same way?"

"W-well, yes, but…"

Winry backed off a little. "I understand. You're nervous. But he's never gonna know how you feel unless you tell him."

"B-but I am not even sure if it is…_that_."

"Well…wouldn't it be nice to find out together, rather than by yourself?"

()()()()()

Delilah and Winry hung out in their shared room. They didn't have much else to do, since it was already dark outside. They passed the time by reading books or magazines and they even played cards (Winry won the first time, but then Delilah fell into a steady stream of victories). They had started to talk about going sightseeing the next day when a loud sound interrupted them.

Confused, the two opened the door to find Al half in the hallway and half in his and Ed's room. He looked startled (as startled as a suit of armor could be) when he noticed Delilah and Winry, but a moment later, Ed came out of his room, looking distressed.

"Winry…" He hurried past the girls, putting a hand on Winry's shoulder for a brief moment. "Sorry! I gotta go check to see if it's true, and then I'll explain later. Let's go, Al!"

"O-okay. Um, stay here, you guys," Al said as he and his brother hurried down the hall.

"What are they…ugh," Winry complained. "They never tell me what's going on. Do you know anything, Delilah?"

The younger girl shook her head, just as perplexed as Winry was.

"They didn't even shut their door or turn off their lights." Winry sighed and went into the boys' room; Delilah toddled in after. "Look at this mess! Ugh, why do they just leave stuff lying around like this? Hey, Delilah, mind helping me?"

The girls wasted no time in picking up some of the papers and clothes off the floor and putting them on the table. Neither really looked at the documents, but when Delilah picked up the forgotten newspaper, a picture on the front page caught her eye.

It was Second Lieutenant Maria Ross.

And the headline declared that she had been charged for the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes.

* * *

_a/n: whoops, I totally didn't mean to go all hiatus on you guys, it kinda just...happened. And this chapter was really short and...filler. And I hate the beginning scene but I didn't know how to rewrite it, really; I couldn't find in the manga the part where Ling tells them about his princeliness but I was too lazy to take it from the anime and I feel like a failure but whatever. *shrugs*_

_...I think maybe I'm slowing down in the writing process of this because I'm really afraid of the darkness that'll come in a couple chapters ;; Once again, I'm probably over-reacting, but yeah ;; Um I'll just shut up about that now._

_On a happier note, I drew Delilah, and she is now the cover for this story! Excuse my lack of talent, please. :3_

_Have a good day~~~_


	23. Chapter 23

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, only my own OCs and this particular fic._

* * *

Twenty-Three

"A-are you sure about this, Winry?" Delilah asked as she walked with the older girl down the streets of Central. "Edward and Alphonse might come back while we are gone, and they might get worried…."

"They'll be fine," Winry said shortly. She clutched the newspaper tightly in her hands. "We waited all night for them to come back. And I…I have to see if it's true."

It didn't feel true. It couldn't have been true. Hughes was one of the nicest people Delilah had ever met; there was no way he could be dead. There was no way _Maria Ross _could have killed him, either—she was an honorable, responsible, and kind woman. Delilah had told Winry this, but the older girl hadn't commented.

Delilah had never had anyone remotely close to her die (_don't think of the doctor, don't think of the doctor…_). Of course, she hadn't been close to Hughes—she had been more of a friendly acquaintance. Winry had fit in more with the Hugheses and had spent more time with them. Delilah somehow found herself jealous, and also angry at the fact that she hadn't agreed to spend that one last night at the Hughes' before they'd left for Dublith. That had been the last time she had seen Hughes, when he had taken Winry to his house.

It had been a simple action, an action he would never do again.

When they arrived at the Hughes', both girls paused at the front gate. A chilly wind swept through the otherwise warm air, and Delilah was reminded that autumn was coming and that soon everything would be cold.

They didn't even look at each other before Winry opened the gate and led the way up to the front door. After a moment's hesitation, she knocked on it.

_Oh God, please don't be home, _the two girls thought simultaneously.

Hurried footsteps sounded from inside, and none other than Elicia opened the front door. "Papa!"

When she realized who they were—or, rather, who they _weren't_—the look on Elicia's face confirmed the worst. She made a small, pained noise, and wrapped her little arms around Winry's legs.

"Elicia?" A voice wafted out of the house, and Gracia appeared in the doorway. "Oh, you girls…"

"Mrs. Hughes…," Delilah began, trailing off uselessly.

Gracia noticed the newspaper in Winry's hand. "Why don't you two come in?"

()()()()()

After Gracia had told them the details of Hughes's death and funeral, Winry offered to help Gracia in the kitchen—guilt was apparent in Winry's expression, and it was obvious that she wanted to do something to help. Delilah decided to stay with Elicia and play with her. The little girl was currently in a good mood and had taken out some paper and crayons.

"Can you draw?" Elicia asked, grabbing a blue crayon and slashing a shaky line across the page.

"Not really." Delilah took a red crayon, though, and absent-mindedly drew a circle.

From the sound of it, Hughes had been attacked while he had privately been doing some research. He'd managed to escape and go straight to the phones, but had seemed to change his mind and then go to the phone booth outside. Apparently he had been trying to call Mustang—and therefore, Mustang had lied to them all, not that Delilah blamed him—but what had he been planning to say? Had he been looking into the Philosopher's Stone and the fifth laboratory? Was that why he'd been killed?

_Edward and Alphonse must feel so guilty…._

"You look like Mommy when she's about to cry."

Delilah jolted out of her thoughts. She tried to smile at the little girl. "Sorry, Elicia."

Elicia frowned for a moment before she looked at Delilah's drawing. "What's that?"

"…Just scribbles," Delilah said, scratching over Alphonse's blood seal.

()()()()()

Elicia became sleepy not long later, and Gracia put her on the couch to sleep while Delilah cleaned up the crayons. She put Elicia's drawings on the table, but took her own paper and threw it in the trash. The action felt wrong, but it wasn't as if she had a use for a drawing of Al's blood seal when she had the real thing, more or less.

Winry had just finished making an apple pie when there was a knock on the front door. The older girl didn't seem to hear it, instead going into the living room to be with Elicia. Delilah answered the door.

She blinked in surprise. "Edward? Alphonse?"

The two looked somber. "We're here to get you and Winry. Mrs. Hughes called us," Al explained.

For the first time since discovering Hughes's death, tears leaked out of Delilah's eyes. She moved out of the way, wiping at her face while Ed and Al came in. Ed only looked at her sadly—there were no words that could be said, and if there were he would be the last one to know them—but Al put a hand on her shoulder.

She led them into the living room, where Winry and Gracia sat on either side of the sleeping Elicia. Both women looked up as the trio entered.

"Hello, Winry," Ed said quietly. "I'm here to pick you up."

"…Sorry," Winry muttered.

"No," Ed said. "I'm…sorry, too." He looked to Gracia. "There's something that I need to tell you about, Mrs. Hughes. Is that all right?" He hesitated. "Well, tell everyone, I guess."

()()()()()

"So, you see, the two of us came here to research the Philosopher's Stone in hopes of getting our original bodies back," Ed said.

"When Brother was hospitalized, Lieutenant Co…uh, Brigadier General Hughes really looked after him. He volunteered to dig up information on the Stone for us using the resources at the court martial office. Apparently he stumbled upon secret information that shed light on the darker side of the military that he wasn't supposed to know about. The Fuhrer personally came to tell us to not probe any further because he said it was too dangerous," Alphonse added.

Gracia was silent for a moment. "So they found out that my husband was onto them and sent a warning for you to not get involved in this any further?"

"Most likely," Ed agreed. He suddenly clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "It's our fault for getting him involved. I'm so sorry, Mrs. Hughes…. I'm so sorry!"

"If…," Al began slowly, and Delilah was drawn to his tone. "…If other people might get hurt as a result of our search, then we can't keep…"

Gracia smiled sadly and interrupted him. "He gave his life trying to save someone else. That's so typical of him. He's always stuck his neck out trying to help others. That's why he always got the short end of the stick." She paused to pet her sleeping daughter's hair. "But he had more than enough happiness to make up for it."

She stared directly at the brothers. "If you both give up on your goal now, my husband's death will have been in vain." She smiled. "If the Philosopher's Stone isn't yielding any results, then maybe there's another way. You have to keep moving forward by doing whatever you think is right."

()()()()()

When they got back to the hotel, Ed went to the restaurant. He suggested that the girls should eat too, but they had both eaten at Gracia's and had no appetite whatsoever. Once Ed had gone off on his own, Winry had hurried up to her room. Delilah hadn't wanted to bother the older girl, so Al let her stay in his room for the time being.

Delilah sat on the couch while Al placed himself in the chair. They were silent for a little while.

"…Awful things happen in this hotel," Delilah said finally.

He looked up. A very slight cheeriness entered his voice, as if she'd amused him. "Well, one day I'll bring you here and we'll have a party or something."

She smiled slightly, but it faded and another silence ensued. Then: "Did you really mean what you said?"

He tipped his head. "About what?"

"Giving up your bodies if it meant other people would get hurt."

Al shifted. "Yes," he said seriously. "This is mine and Brother's sin, not anyone else's."

She shot to her feet. "But you cannot do that!"

He was startled by her outburst. "Yes, I can, and I will if it comes to that," he said, becoming stern.

"But you deserve to get your body back," she argued. "It is not fair that someone like you should have to go through this."

"And it isn't fair for someone else to suffer for something that I've done. _I sinned. _I thought you would've understood, Delilah."

"But that still does not make it fair to _you_!" She fought back tears. "I do understand, but I want you to get your body back, Alphonse; I don't want you to give up…. I want you to be happy."

"Living like this may not be easy, but that doesn't mean I can't be happy," he pointed out. "I still have Brother, and Winry, and you, and so many other people."

"…But…"

"I'm happy with all of you, Delilah."

She plopped back down on the couch and stared at him. After a long moment, she laughed. "You can be as stubborn as Edward."

"Hey!" he said indignantly, and she laughed a little more and he had to join in after a moment. It felt good to laugh.

"But Delilah," Alphonse said when their laughter tapered off. "Brother and I aren't giving up just yet. I don't think we're ever going to fully give up, not if there's another possible way. So don't worry."

"…Promise?"

"Promise."

She smiled a little.

"…It's getting late," Al said finally. "You should get some sleep. Um…you can sleep here, if you want."

Delilah thought of Winry and knew she didn't want to disturb the older girl. Besides, sleeping inside Al's armor sounded especially comforting after the day they'd all had. She nodded in response.

"Oh, that reminds me," she said. "I need to buy some herbs. My medicine is almost out. All I have to do is use alchemy to make it."

"Do you have enough for tonight?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll borrow some money from Brother and go out tomorrow."

On that day it was impossible to feel truly happy, but Al still made her feel better.

()()()()()

When she woke up inside Al's body, Delilah didn't realize that she wouldn't be able to wake up like this for a long while yet.

She sat still for a few minutes, allowing her body to fully awaken. She had no idea what time it was. Time didn't seem to exist in this space inside Al, and the thought was both intriguing and sad. She placed her fingertips on the inside of his back, knowing that he couldn't feel her nor tell what she was doing, since she hadn't made a sound.

At that moment, she wanted to tell him how she felt. She wanted to thank him for everything he'd done and to repay his kindness with her own.

She didn't act on those thoughts, though.

She knocked lightly. "Alphonse?"

"Oh, you're awake? Good." His body clicked and he undid the straps to open up his chest. "Brother and Winry are having breakfast; we can go down and meet them. I told him about your medicine and he left some money on the table."

"Thank you." She crawled out of him and stood, smoothing out her dress and pretending that she hadn't suddenly become flustered.

He closed himself up again, then stood. "Let's get going, then."

()()()()()

Breakfast was a bit subdued. Winry kept glancing at Delilah and saying nothing, and Ed didn't have much to say. After they ate, they headed back up to Ed and Al's room, but not before Winry retrieved some polishing oil from her bag so she could make Al look spiffy. She had an extra rag, so she asked Delilah if she wanted to help, and the two of them began to work on Al.

"I didn't notice before, but up close, you look pretty banged up," Winry noted to Al. "You must be having a hard journey."

Al laughed very slightly at the understatement.

Winry looked to where Ed lay on his bed. "So…what are you gonna do now?"

Ed seemed to ponder the question. "What she I do…? Well, what do _you _want me to do?"

Winry looked at him in slight shock.

Ed was confused by her expression. "What?"

"It's just…you guys have never asked me for advice before."

"…That's true," Ed admitted.

"Um…" Winry went back to polishing Al but stopped immediately. "I was scared. When I thought about how you and Al have been battling in a situation where even someone like Mr. Hughes got killed, it made me really scared. I mean, you guys could actually die on this mission. You might walk away and I'd never see you again. When I thought about that, I was terrified. It made me wish that you'd stop travelling. But when Al said he'd give up on getting his body back, I know that I didn't want him to give up.

"Those are my honest feelings. I wanted you to regain your original bodies, but I also want you to stop this dangerous journey, and, uh…" She paused. "I'm sorry. I guess I don't know what I really want."

"Winry, you're so nice," Al said.

Winry blushed. "Huh? W-what? I'm always nice!" She started hitting him, and he complained of new dents and scratches, and the sight was so opposite to the previous conversation that Delilah started laughing. Al noticed and began to laugh as well, and soon Winry joined in. It felt good to laugh; it was as if the laughter was a promise that things would get better, if later rather than sooner.

Someone knocked at the door, distracting them all, and Ed got off his bed to answer it. "Hi, can I help—uh…"

There was a loud thud, and Ed was send skidding sideways out of the door and into the hall. The impact was so loud that it jarred the three teens remaining in the room, and they hurried to see what the commotion was.

Ultimately, Delilah wasn't sure why she was surprised that the Major was there, patting Ed's shoulders and loudly proclaiming that the young alchemist needed to go back to Resembool to get his automail fixed. But then again, the Major was always full of surprises.

"What? You're going back to Resembool?" Al asked, perplexed.

"Why, it's Alphonse Elric!" the Major proclaimed. He approached Al cheerily and poked him in the chin with a massive finger. "You stand out too much, so you stay here! And Miss Heywood! Lovely seeing you again, but perhaps you should stay here and enjoy the sights."

Completely ignoring Winry's existence, Armstrong turned, grabbed Ed by the collar, and dragged him away. "Let's go, Edward Elric!"

Al, Winry, and Delilah were speechless. But Ling wasn't.

"Are they leaving?"

"AHHHH!" All non-Xingese teens jumped and turned to the prince.

"L-Ling?" Al pointed a shaky finger at him. "H-how did you—"

Ling jerked a thumb behind him. "Through the window. As a state alchemist, I knew that Ed had to be staying in the military hotel, so I just checked all the windows."

"But did you have to sneak in through the _window?_" Delilah asked, still trying to calm her heart.

"Of course!" Ling said with ease. "After all, I am a wanted criminal. I'm an illegal immigrant plus I broke out of prison."

"Don't act so proud," Al muttered while Winry and Delilah looked at each other in confusion.

"Prison?" they echoed.

Ling blinked. "They didn't tell you two about what happened to Maria Ross the other night?"

The girls shook their heads, and Al averted his eyes for a moment.

Ling grinned. "Well, the official story is that that Flame Alchemist of yours roasted her to death!" Before they could react, he added, "But what really happened was that me and Barry the Chopper helped lead her to him so he could help her flee the country!"

Ling raised an eyebrow at the astonished silence. "What? You all don't really think he killed anyone, do you? I mean, I'm new to this country and all, but I know she's innocent. Barry told me all about her. Oh, you know what? I really like Barry. He told me all about you, Alphonse!"

Al managed to get over his speechlessness. "But…I saw her body!"

"Just a dummy."

Delilah finally seemed to catch up with the situation…sort of. "Barry the Chopper?" she said, remembering the name from when Ed and Al had gone to the Fifth Laboratory.

Ling nodded. "He's a disembodied soul, just like Alphonse."

"How do you know about that?!" Al demanded.

"Well—"

"WILL YOU JUST TELL US WHAT HAPPENED TO ED JUST NOW?" Winry screeched, wielding her wrench threateningly.

Al and Delilah flinched, while Ling held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, your Colonel or whatever made it look like he killed Maria Ross so that whoever framed her would be satisfied. Some of his men took her into hiding, and I made a deal with Barry the Chopper to allow Fu to take the woman to Xing and for our help to take on whoever framed Maria Ross. That Major guy is taking Ed to the Eastern Desert outside of Amestris on what he thinks is a secret mission; they're actually both supposed to meet Maria Ross there."

"You're serious?" Al nearly shouted. "_That's _why the Major took Brother?! Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Ling ignored him and looked out the window. "Oh my. It's already begun."

Delilah looked to see something bright shooting into the sky. "A flare?"

Ling grinned. "Yup. It's the signal to strike." He turned to Alphonse. "Are you coming?"

Al calmed from his earlier outburst. "This might lead us to the person who killed Mr. Hughes. If we're even partially responsible for his death, then I think we need to see this through to the end."

Dread filled Delilah. "…Please be careful."

He looked to her. "Of course I will."

"When you come back, you have to tell us everything that happened, okay?" Winry said.

He nodded. "I will."

"C…come back as soon as you can," Delilah pleaded.

"No matter what," Winry added.

"I promise."

* * *

_a/n: I don't really have a lot to say for this chapter. I'm a little tired and I kinda have to get ready for bed XD;; Anyway, I'm kinda predicting that the darkness will come up in two chapters, but I'm not sure. Eh. You all have a good day~ Please review on your way out, reviews are always appreciated!_


	24. Chapter 24

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, I only own my own OCs and this fic._

* * *

Twenty-Four

The wait was excruciating.

For the first hour, the two girls stayed in their room, passing the time silently by reading—or, at least, pretending to read. Dinnertime eventually rolled around and even though neither of them was hungry, Winry pointed out that they needed to eat, so they split something down in the restaurant before heading outside onto the front steps of the hotel to wait.

Delilah wasn't sure if this wait was easier or harder than when Alphonse had been kidnapped. These people who framed Maria Ross and killed Mr. Hughes had to have been the Homunculi, and the Homunculi were deadly and scary and awful. She'd only met Envy, but hearing about Greed and the woman Homunculus was enough for her.

"Delilah."

Pulled out of her thoughts, Delilah looked over to Winry. The girl's elbows rested on her knees and her chin rested in her hands.

"…You know more about what's going on than I do, don't you?"

Delilah didn't know what to say. She looked down at the weathered stone beneath her. "…I think so."

Winry turned her head slightly, eyes downcast but narrowed. "I've known them for forever, and you've known them for…two months? And they've told _you _so much and _me _so little…." She fiercely rubbed tears off her cheeks. "What makes _you _so special, Delilah? Why do they tell _you _everything?"

Winry's tone had mostly been sorrowful and worried, but the bits of accusation made Delilah wince. She thought about Edward's tale of Nina; Alphonse telling her about his and Ed's adventures; and learning for the first time about their bodies. About them pleading her to never preform human transmutation, about their reluctance to tell Winry anything. Once, Delilah would have never pieced it all together, but since being with Ed and Al, she had grown.

For a split moment, Delilah envied Winry.

"I am only in the right place at the right time," Delilah said quietly. "They do not tell you because they care about you and do not want you to worry. They only tell me things because I am there, and I am there because…I am too scared to be away from them. I feel like they can protect me from anything…but of course they can't. I am not special, Winry. I am small and weak, and I…I admire you a lot, Winry, for being so independent. I think you are the one who is special, especially to them. Just because they do not tell you things does not mean that they think any less of you. They think more of you."

Winry wiped away another tear before turning completely to the younger girl. "…Admire, huh? I'm not so sure about that, but… Well, I'm scared to be away from them, too. I'm scared that they'll walk away and I'll never see them again, like with my parents…."

There was a stretch of silence; neither of them really knew what to say. Then: "Sorry for snapping like that. That was mean and selfish of me."

"No harm done."

And so, they continued to wait.

()()()()()

Midnight had come and gone by the time a clanking echoed from the darkness. Delilah heard it first and raised her head, and out of the night appeared Alphonse.

"Uh…" He stopped in front of them. "I'm home."

Winry and Delilah shot to their feet and took in his battered form. It was obvious that the fight had been hard; Al's lower jaw was missing, as were the spikes on his right shoulder. He looked like a toy soldier that had been thrown across the room by its owner.

"You _idiot!_" Winry exploded. "Welcome back!"

Al chuckled after a moment. "Yeah." He turned to Delilah and saw that she was crying a little, too. "I'm fine, see? No need to worry."

Delilah shook her head. "But you are all—" She touched his injured arm, and it fell off his body.

The trio screeched.

"I—I can't get it back on!"

"But you're _armor, _shouldn't that be easy to do?!"

"I am so sorry, Alphonse!"

"It's okay—Winry, stop! The wrench isn't helping!"

()()()()()

They ended up tying bits of cloth around the holes in Al's armor to prevent anyone from seeing his hollowness. They were too afraid to fix Al with alchemy since Ed wasn't there, so they decided to wait until Ed got back for Al to be whole again.

Though it was late and Winry and Delilah were tired, they stayed up and listened to Al's story about what had happened that evening, including the death of one of the Homunculi (who had been known as Lust, apparently) and the hospitalization of Colonel Mustang and his subordinate, Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc. The two girls were rather mortified at the tale, and their relief that Alphonse was (mostly) all right was only intensified.

"Anyway," Al said once he was done. "For now, we have to cancel one of our rooms; without Ed here, we can't pay."

"Does that mean we can't get room service?" Ling whined from the window, where he sat with Lan Fan.

Delilah and Winry jumped while Al just sighed.

()()()()()

When Delilah awoke, bright sunlight was already streaming in through the window. She groggily sat up and rubbed at her eyes, yawning.

"Winry's down at lunch already; I don't know where Ling and Lan Fan went," Al said, and Delilah nearly jumped; she'd forgotten for a moment that they were all in the same room now.

"Ah, sorry," he said, noticing her reaction. He was sitting on the couch, a book in his lap. "Didn't mean to startle you. Good, uh, day, by the way."

She found herself smiling at him, contented at his voice and greeting. "Good day to you, too," she said, laughing a little.

She quickly got ready and before long, the two of them were heading down to the restaurant.

"We never went shopping for you yesterday, did we?" Alphonse asked.

Delilah shook her head. "No, but I had enough medicine for last night left over."

"Well, we can go out after lunch," he suggested. "I wanna stop by the hospital too, to see Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Havoc."

"Are they hurt badly?"

"The Colonel had to sear a wound closed, so he has a burn on his side. Havoc seemed to be in bad condition, though…."

Delilah hardly knew the Colonel—and she hadn't ever met Havoc—but she hoped that she had the skills to do something for them.

Winry looked a little surprised when she noticed the two of them come into the restaurant. A sly grin crossed her features for a moment, and Delilah suddenly felt embarrassed as she remembered her earlier conversation with Winry. She hurriedly tried to push away her thoughts. She ordered something small for lunch while Alphonse told Winry what they were planning on doing for the day.

"I think I'll go see Miss Gracia today, then," Winry said. "I want to help her out however I can."

"We can stop by after we're done," Al said.

Winry nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

()()()()()

While Al used the front desk's telephone to call the hospital, Winry discretely—but forcefully—dragged Delilah across the room to the front doors. "You two are going to be alone _all day_."

Delilah was a little confused. "Um, yeah—"

"_You_," Winry said, poking her in the chest, "have the chance to tell _him _how you feel."

Delilah's faced flamed. "W-Winry…!"

The older girl shrugged. "I'm only saying that today you have the perfect opportunity to get closer to him."

"But I-I—"

"What are you guys talking about?" Alphonse asked, coming up to them.

Delilah was too embarrassed to even look at him, but Winry just waved him off. "Nothing, nothing. Let's get going."

Alphonse was confused but didn't ask. The trio left the hotel and walked together for a while before splitting up and going their separate ways.

Delilah tried not to think about what Winry had said, but it was difficult. After all, if she told Alphonse how she felt and he didn't return her feelings…she would surely die of embarrassment. And if that happened, wouldn't their friendship suffer? That was the last thing she wanted to happen.

But what if he _did _feel the same way?

Her thoughts were so conflicting that she had the wish to just fall in a hole and die.

"Are you feeling okay?" Alphonse asked, noticing her red face.

She jumped. "Y-yes, I am!"

He tipped his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Well…okay, then. Anyway, we're here," he said, pointing to where the hospital stood behind a plain wall.

"Hey, Alphonse!"

The duo stopped and turned to see a bespectacled young man with short, spiky black hair hurrying up to them. "Are you here to visit them?"

Alphonse nodded. "Yup."

The young man noticed Delilah. "Oh, I'm sorry; I don't think we've met." He held out his hand. "Master Sergeant Kain Fuery. Nice to meet you."

She shook his hand. "Delilah Heywood."

"She's a friend of ours, Sergeant," Al said.

"I see," Fuery said with a smile. "Shall we head in?"

()()()()()

Fuery knocked on the door to Mustang and Havoc's shared room. He opened the door and saluted. "Sorry to disturb you, sir," he said as he entered.

"We came to visit you," Alphonse added, Delilah close on his heels as he entered the room after Fuery.

Hawkeye, who stood by the door, was surprised. "Alphonse? Should you be walking around out in the open like this? If they find you, they could kill you!"

"Oh, I'm fine," Alphonse assured her. "I have someone who can detect a Homunculus's aura."

Delilah was confused. "Who?"

"Lan Fan," Al explained. "Ling, too, but he's probably off eating something."

Mustang, who had just noticed Delilah, grinned. "Oh, it's my admirer! Delilah, right? I never forget a pretty face!"

Delilah blushed a bright red.

"Sir," Hawkeye warned.

"U-uh, sorry," Mustang said, wary of Hawkeye's stare. "What are you doing here?" he asked politely.

Still rather stupefied, Delilah stuttered, "W-well, you see, Colonel Mustang, sir… I am a medicinal alchemist. U-um, well, in training…. I can heal surface wounds. Um…w-would you mind if I helped you?"

Mustang's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked to Alphonse.

"She's really good," he said. "She's helped Brother before."

Mustang thought for a moment. "Only if you work on Havoc first." He indicated the blonde man lying in the next bed.

Jean Havoc looked rather displeased, but he didn't fight the decision. He introduced himself to Delilah and she did the same before she set to work on his wounds. Everyone watched for a moment, amazed at her alchemy, before starting up a conversation among themselves.

When Delilah moved to heal some scratches on Havoc's legs, she noticed that not even his foot twitched as she worked. She couldn't help but glance at Havoc's face, but she only found that he had turned away.

"I wish there were more I could do," she whispered, and Havoc didn't respond. She suddenly felt awful for saying anything.

_The doctor would be able to fix this._

With that heavy thought, Delilah moved on to Mustang, and he marveled at her work.

"Please do not get too excited," she cautioned. "You are still bruised below the skin, among other things. You need to rest."

"Hmph. Well, thank you anyway, Miss Delilah. You're quite useful to have around," said Mustang. She blushed again, but not as much as before.

"Fuery," Hawkeye said. "Would you please stand post outside? And I'm sorry, Delilah, but would you mind waiting outside as well?"

()()()()()

"Can I ask what you talked about?" Delilah asked afterwards as she and Alphonse headed into the market.

"Just about what happened yesterday," Al said. "I can't really talk about it here, though."

"No problem," Delilah replied. She stopped at a stand, seeing that there were herbs for sale—thankfully, everything she needed was there and within her (or rather, Ed's) price range.

"I have never actually made my medicine myself before," Delilah admitted as they left the market.

"Marcoh showed you how to make it though, right?"

"Yes." She paused, growing somber. "…Do you think they could have taken him here to Central?"

"Well…I would think it's likely. But we can't go looking for him right now; I can't really defend us right now. And we don't know where to start looking."

"…Yeah."

"Don't—"

A sudden cry cut him off, and the duo looked forward to see that a young woman—maybe seventeen or eighteen years old—had tripped and fallen to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Alphonse asked concernedly as he and Delilah hurried up to her. He collected the purse she had dropped.

"Ah…I'm bleeding," the woman said, maneuvering her body so that she sat on her bottom. Indeed, her shin had been skinned on the pavement, and the red liquid was dripping down her leg.

"Here, let me help you. I am a medicinal alchemist," Delilah said, kneeling down beside the woman. She placed her gloved hand just above the woman's shin and activated the circle, healing the woman within a few seconds. Then, she switched hands and used regular alchemy to clean the woman's leg of blood.

The woman was stupefied for a moment before she beamed at Delilah. "Oh, thank you so much!"

"No problem." Delilah stood and helped the woman to her feet, and Alphonse gave back the purse.

"I would invite you to tea right now to thank you, but I'm on my way to work," the woman said. She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "Perhaps another time?"

Delilah was embarrassed. "Oh, no, you do not—"

"Nonsense! I have to thank you somehow. How about you come to the market on Friday afternoon at…oh, say three, and I'll take you back to my place for tea and dinner. Oh," she said, almost as an afterthought, blinking her green eyes. She extended her hand. "I'm Lyn Thomas, by the way."

Delilah shook the woman's hand and introduced herself and Alphonse.

Lyn seemed intrigued, but not by Alphonse. "Heywood? Hey, small world. My stepmother's maiden name is Heywood. You don't know a Lydia Heywood, do you?"

"…No, sorry."

"Ah, that's fine. I live with her, though, so you can meet her on Friday." Lyn checked her watch and paled. "Oh, my word. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to be late. Thank you again!" she said, hurrying off.

Alphonse and Delilah watched her leave.

"…Is Heywood your birth name?" Al asked.

"My name was on a note when the orphanage received me," Delilah replied quietly.

"Is it common?"

"Not that I know of."

But it was just a last name. It had to be coincidence.

Right?

* * *

_a/n: This is a short chapter and I don't really like it that much (it's midnight and I really wanna update it even though I should be asleep because my dad and I are going to Boston tomorrow if weather permits), but oh well. The shortness and "staleness" (I guess) will definitely be made up for in the next chapter. I just didn't want to include any of the next chapter in this one because the next chapter is like...really really important. I've been planing it for months. MONTHS, I TELL YOU.  
_

_That being said, the next chapter should definitely be where things get a bit dark. I get that I'm probably overreacting about it (how many times have I said this? Like, five? I don't remember), but nevertheless, the next chapter will have trigger warnings right above the chapter in the disclaimer, but if you don't want to be spoiled then don't read the trigger warning. Like...I'm sure I'm overreacting. But I'd rather overreact than under-react when it comes to certain things._

_ANYWAY. Um, yes, please leave a review on your way out. I really appreciate them~~~ And they make me write faster. :3_


	25. Chapter 25

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA. All OCs are mine and this fic is mine._

_Also, here's that trigger warning I promised (if you don't want to be spoiled, feel free to skip this, but don't say I didn't warn you): this chapter contains mention (not description, though) of both rape and incest. The rest of the story should deal with this theme, so if you want to back out of this story now I do not blame you in the slightest. Honest to goodness, if this story makes you feel uncomfortable now then I am very sorry but I'm not going to change it, and I'll have no bad feelings toward you if you stop reading._

_If you do decide to keep up with this story, then I suggest you find something happy to do after reading this chapter. Goodness knows I need something happy to do right now._

* * *

Twenty-Five

Al and Delilah walked to the Hughes' in silence. If they hadn't run into Lyn, Delilah would've kept thinking about Marcoh, but now she was wondering about this so-called Lydia Heywood—well, Lydia Thomas. Though she knew their shared maiden name could be a coincidence, she couldn't help but wonder if they really were related.

Perhaps…perhaps Lydia was her mother?

"We're here," Al said, interrupting her thoughts, and she realized that they had come up to Gracia's home. Al knocked and soon Gracia herself opened the door and ushered them inside.

"You guys are just in time for dinner!" Winry said from the kitchen. "And I made cookies for dessert."

"Elicia," Gracia called, and the girl appeared in the hallway. "Would you take these two to the table while I help Winry?"

"Okay, Mommy." Elicia took Al's and Delilah's hands, pulling them into the dining room.

"Has Winry been playing with you today, Elicia?" Al asked, with the sweet voice that people adopt when speaking to children.

"Yup! We drew and played with blocks, and then she cleaned the kitchen so Mommy could play with me!"

Alphonse chuckled and helped the girl into her highchair; then he and Delilah sat on either side of the little girl.

"Did you have fun with your mommy?" Delilah asked.

Elicia grinned. "I always have fun with my mommy. Don't you?"

Delilah stared at her blankly.

Before Elicia could catch on that something was off, Winry and Gracia announced that dinner was ready and put plates on the table, and the little girl was distracted.

()()()()()

Delilah separated out the herbs into distinct piles to show Winry, Alphonse, Ling and Lan Fan which one was which, explaining what each did and how much needed to go into each pill of her medicine. She then put her gloved palm to the piles and transmuted them into tiny pills, which she scooped into a bottle.

Ling looked semi-interested. He and Lan Fan had taken to checking out the city during the day and coming back to crash in the hotel room at night. "You're really good at this medical stuff, aren't you?" he asked.

She nodded modestly. "…A little."

Lan Fan smiled at her. "Perhaps you'd make a good alkahestrist since you already have this sort of background."

"The Yao clan has some pretty good alkahestrists, but we didn't bring any with us," Ling said.

"It would neat to meet an alkahestrist," Al said.

Ling grinned. "Maybe when I gain immortality I'll let you come see." Al laughed and agreed that it would be fun to go to Xing, especially with an immortal Ling.

Winry yawned and stretched. She'd already changed into her pajamas a little earlier. "It's getting late. I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Good night, Winry," Delilah said as the older girl crawled into her bed.

"We should all probably get some rest," Ling suggested. He dived onto the couch and was out like a light. Lan Fan sighed in exasperation and took the chair.

Delilah didn't feel tired, but she headed into the bathroom to change and took her medicine before heading to bed. She didn't fall asleep for a long time, though.

()()()()()

When Lyn had invited Delilah over, it had been Sunday, and the days leading up to Friday dragged on with increasing anxiety on Delilah's part. Whenever she wasn't preoccupied with something, Delilah's thoughts always wandered back to one person she'd never met: Lydia Thomas, nee Heywood.

Most of Winry, Al, and Delilah's trips outside the hotel included going to the Hughes' house, so Delilah was usually distracted by playing with Elicia or helping Gracia around the house. Delilah was happy to help, but sometimes, she would frown a little when she saw how strong a bond the mother and daughter shared.

Delilah wondered if she would have had such a relationship with her mother if things had been different. For instance, she wouldn't have been wondering if she and Lydia Thomas were related by something other than a maiden name.

The thought of Lydia possibly being her mother made her stomach knot in nervousness; sometimes she wondered if she were going to vomit.

As the week progressed toward Friday, Delilah got less and less sleep, even with her medicine. Her nerves ate away at her thoughts until finally, on Thursday, Al pulled her aside while Winry was busy helping Gracia and Elicia was taking a nap.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" he asked concernedly.

She shook her head, a little embarrassed. Knowing what he was going to ask next, she said, "I am a bit…anxious about tomorrow."

He understood at once. "So you're really going?" He paused. "You don't think…?"

She shook her head again, more vigorously than the first time. "I do not know. But I will ask…I think."

He was silent for a moment. "Do you want me to go with you?"

She hesitated. Truthfully, she wanted him there for moral support (she would probably need it whether Lydia was indeed her mother or not), but something told her that she should do this alone. "…I would rather go by myself."

Alphonse nodded. "I understand. But if you change your mind, I'll go with you."

()()()()()

The next day, Alphonse could tell that Delilah had hardly gotten a wink of sleep, but he knew that not much could be done about it. The day seemed to go by too fast though, because the next thing he knew, it was about 2:30 and Delilah was getting ready to leave.

"Have fun," Winry wished. Delilah hadn't told her whom exactly she could possibly be meeting—she privately told Alphonse that she would rather tell Winry everything if her suspicions turned out to be true rather than if they weren't—and had only said that a person she'd helped had asked her to come over for tea and dinner.

"Don't forget your hat," Al said. "It's starting to rain a little."

"Thank you." Delilah put on her hat and gave the two an awkward wave before she left the hotel room and closed the door behind her. Alphonse silently wished her good luck.

Winry looked up from her edition of _Automail! _magazine. "So you really aren't going with her?"

Al shook his head. "She said she wanted to go by herself. Why?"

"Oh…nothing much. You just usually go places with her. And this Lyn woman is a stranger. For all we know, she could have a younger brother who could become totally smitten with such a smart girl like Delilah. He could ask her over again for more tea and before you know it," Winry said with a dramatic wave of her hand, "they'd be sneaking out late to see each other, and he'd be throwing rocks at her window…! It's kind of romantic, if you think about it."

Alphonse was floored by Winry's "prediction." "She wouldn't—that's not going to happen," he said, flustered. Part of it was that that was the last of Delilah's worries today, but also because Winry's idea was just so…so absurd!

Winry tipped her head. "Are you saying that no one would ever like her like that?"

"W-well," he stammered, taken aback, "uh, I guess…no…?" He wasn't sure if he'd answered correctly.

"But you like her though, right?"

If Alphonse could blush, he would have been crimson. "O-of course I _like _Delilah. She's my friend!"

A smile tugged at Winry's cheeks. "You know that's not what I meant."

His jaw wasn't attached at the moment, but if it were and if he could move it, it would be flapping up and down uselessly. "I-I've never thought about it," he admitted finally. He cared about her, of course, but he'd never considered—really, _consciously _considered—his feelings to be anything beyond friendship.

"Well, judging by your reaction, it looks like there's _something _there," Winry said. "You should really think about it!"

For the first time in what felt like forever (although it had only been a few minutes), he was able to think rationally. "But Brother and I are too busy getting our bodies back. And…" He looked down at his only remaining arm.

"…Al. She doesn't care about your body."

He didn't know what to say.

"So. Does she make you feel happy?" He nodded slowly, thinking everything over. "Special?" Another nod. "And do you think she's special?" Again.

Winry smiled. "And do you want her to feel the same way?"

"W-well… I've never—" He suddenly flailed about. "Winry! S-stop it!"

She shrugged and went back to her magazine. "All I'm saying is that if you find that you do like her, you should tell her, because someone else might get there before you."

Alphonse, not noticing Winry's triumphant (and somewhat malicious-looking) grin, looked down and began to contemplate her words and his feelings.

()()()()()

Delilah adjusted her hat so that her face wouldn't be splattered by the light drops of rain. She stood in the market, waiting for Lyn Thomas anxiously and trying not to appear so. Was Lyn going to even show up? Had she forgotten? What if—

"Ah! You did come!"

Delilah almost jumped out of her skin and turned to see Lyn standing behind her. The young woman smiled. "Sorry. I'm glad you came, though. Shall we?" she asked, beckoning Delilah to walk with her.

"Uh, yes." Delilah hurried to walk beside her.

"You didn't have to walk far to get here, did you?" Lyn asked.

"Oh, no, not really," Delilah replied awkwardly. "I am staying with my friends at the military hotel."

Lyn looked at her curiously. "Military hotel?"

"Um, the person I was with the other day—Alphonse—his brother, Edward Elric, is the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"A state alchemist, eh? I've never met an alchemist, actually—well, other than you. But my dad was in the military. He was enlisted to go to the western border and was killed in a skirmish with Creta. That was about a year ago."

"Oh." Delilah looked away, not sure what to say.

"Ah, sorry about that; I'm a bit talkative like that," Lyn said. She suddenly pointed down the street. "You see that bakery right there? My stepmom works there. I also help out sometimes. We live right next to it."

A new burst of panic suddenly surged through Delilah, and she struggled to subdue the feeling as Lyn led her to a thin door that was hardly noticeable from the street. Lyn opened the door to reveal a narrow set of worn, wooden stairs and led the way up them; Delilah was comfortable in the small space, but she knew Alphonse wouldn't have been able to even fit (especially if he had both arms attached to him).

There was a painted door at the top of the stairs. "Here we are," Lyn said, pulling out a key from her pocket and unlocking the door before ushering Delilah inside.

The living room was shabby but neat and clean, as if the tenants worked hard to keep it regularly dust-free. The worn wooden floor was covered by a throw rug in the sitting area; the carpet and pale furniture had seen better days. The pastel walls were a little dull, too. Everything was pleasant, just outdated.

"You can wait right here," Lyn said, indicating the couch. "I'll go get Lydia."

"I-is it just you and her living here?" Delilah asked.

"Yup. I don't have any siblings or anything."

Delilah nodded as Lyn left the room. She sat on the couch and started wringing her hands, suddenly full of doubt. If Lydia Thomas wasn't her mother, what would she do? Or, rather, what would she do if the woman _was _her mother? A shared maiden name wasn't enough to know, and any physical similarities could possibly be coincidence. Delilah would have to ask the woman outright….

Entirely too soon, Lyn and Lydia came into the room. Delilah looked up quickly.

Lydia was probably in her early thirties, but it was obvious that she had had a tiring life so far. She had a kind face, but her frown lines were prominent and her skin was slightly pale compared to her stepdaughter's. Her hair was a light brown and her eyes were hazel. She was slightly short and small for a grown woman.

Delilah was nearly terrified. _She looks like me._

Lydia met Delilah's eyes, and a peculiar thing happened; Lydia's eyes widened slightly, and she looked away for a moment, but then wouldn't meet Delilah's eyes again.

"Delilah, this is my stepmother, Lydia Thomas. Lydia, this is Delilah Heywood," Lyn said.

Delilah hastily stood and removed her hat. She extended her hand to Lydia. "It…it is nice to meet you…Mrs. Thomas."

Lydia slowly shook her hand. "My pleasure, Delilah."

"I'll go start the tea," Lyn said cheerily, going into another room.

Delilah stared at Lydia, not knowing what to do. Lydia looked uncomfortable.

"Why don't you take—?"

"Did she say your name was Heywood?" Delilah blurted.

Lydia froze.

"I-I…" Delilah trailed off.

Lydia looked pained. "Please…not now. Not with Lyn here."

_She is. She must be…_

Delilah nodded, unable to speak, and sat down on the couch and put her hat on the table. She stared at it. She wanted to look and didn't want to look at Lydia at the same time.

Lydia sat in one of the chairs. "I'll…I'll get her out of here somehow. And then I'll explain."

Delilah squeezed her eyes shut and resisted the urge to put her face in her hand. "…But I have waited so long—"

"Please," Lydia begged. "Just…just a little longer, okay?"

Delilah swallowed a lump forming in her throat. "Is—is there a bathroom?"

Lydia's expression was unreadable. "Down the hall, first door after the kitchen."

Delilah stood and went to the bathroom before locking the door and sitting on the toilet. For a long moment, she stared into the mirror situated above the sink. Her reflection showed a tired girl, as apparent by the small bags under her eyes. Her face was shaped similar to Lydia's, and her hair was only a shade or two darker, although these things weren't noticeable unless one was actually looking for them. The only thing remarkably different was that Delilah's eyes were blue.

_She must be my mother. She must be her she must be her shemustbehershemustbeher—_

There was a knock on the door. "Delilah?" Lyn said. "Are you feeling all right? The tea's ready."

"Oh—coming!"

Delilah jumped to her feet—something she regretted, as she got a little dizzy—and flushed the toilet even though she hadn't used it. After washing her hands and doing her best to steel herself, she headed back into the living room. She took a seat next to Lyn on the couch and picked up the teacup that had been left for her on the table and took a polite sip. She avoided looking at Lydia.

"So," Lyn said, putting down her own cup. "What are you doing here in Central? You said you were staying in the military hotel, so you can't be from around here."

Delilah held her cup in her lap. "Well, right now am I travelling with the Fullmetal Alchemist. He and his brother and friends of mine…."

"Yes, I remember…."

And so the two spoke for about an hour about mostly trivial things; Lydia only spoke once or twice, really, but Delilah felt extra aware of her presence. All she could think was _Be calm be calm be calm and everything will be okay…_

When tea was finished, Lydia was the one to put the kettle and cups back into the kitchen. When she came back out, she said, "Lyn, you think we should have bread, too?"

"Sure. You want me to go get some?"

"Yes, please. And you might as well help them close up; it's almost five."

Lyn made a face—she looked a little childish. "But we have a guest!"

"Helping down in the shop won't take you that long, and supper's still cooking. Go help."

"Fine," Lyn said, but she suddenly didn't sound too mad about it. She stood and shrugged on a raincoat and excused herself. Lydia went and made sure her stepdaughter left the stairway and closed the outside door; then Lydia turned around, leaving the inside door open.

There was a long moment of silence.

Delilah stood. "S-so you are…?"

Lydia closed her eyes as if she were pained. "Delilah, you were raised in an Eastern orphanage, right?"

Delilah nodded. "For a time, yes."

Lydia opened her eyes and put a hand to her temple. "You…you do have his eyes."

"His…?" The air left Delilah's lungs for a moment. "So you…?"

Lydia nodded. "I…was seventeen. I had you on March twentieth, 1900. That sounds about right for your birthday, right?"

Delilah's knees weakened, but she managed to stay standing. She stared without real comprehension for several seconds.

A definite birthday. A mother. She'd never had those.

"…Where have you been?"

Lydia sighed—a sound that was close to something like the slightest of sobs—and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "After…you, I went to East City and worked there for about…seven years, before I got enough money to go to Central. I'd been working nearly nonstop till I started in the bakery and met Robert and Lyn; they've been here since his first wife died. I married him and life became easier until…well, Lyn told you, I'm sure.

"I…" Lydia ran a hand through her hair. "I've thought about you every single day, Delilah."

Delilah stared at her. "…Then why didn't you come find me…?" _I was there for fourteen years._

Her mother smiled bitterly. "I can hardly even face you now, Delilah. I never wanted you until I gave you up, but there was… I couldn't."

A long pause filled the room once again.

Of course. Of course Lydia had gone on and had a life without her. Of course Lydia hadn't wanted her. Delilah had always known that. But hearing the words—even if they were followed by somewhat positive words—almost made her want to die.

"Can…can I ask why you're here in Central?" Lydia said. "I mean… I wrote your full name on that note, and I…almost hoped that you'd find me."

"I…was not expecting to ever meet you," Delilah said. "I… A medicinal alchemist came to our town and apprenticed me after he healed my illness, and…"

"Illness?" Lydia repeated. Concern was evident on her face, and it made Delilah uncomfortable. "You were sick?"

Delilah felt like she'd been dumped in ice. "Y-yes… I had a mental disability and Doctor Marcoh healed it with—"

"You—you were _that _sick?"

Delilah almost didn't understand what was going on. "I thought you knew…. I thought that was…"

Lydia turned pale. "You thought I gave you up because you were sick?"

"You…did not…?" Delilah's head spun. "I always thought that."

Lydia shook her head.

"Then…it was not _me?_"

Hope suddenly flared in Delilah—it was an unexpected emotion. She'd known that blaming herself for her abandonment hadn't been good for her, but she hadn't thought the relief of finding out she wasn't the problem to be so great. Perhaps…perhaps Lydia had just been young and scared—which was why she hadn't wanted her—and maybe now they could both move forward, together—

"Delilah."

"…What?"

Lydia's hazel gaze locked into her. "…Oh, God. They're really the same color," she whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

Delilah's hope plummeted.

_"You do have his eyes." _

No. No, Delilah loved the hope. She missed it already. She didn't want the uncertainty and shame back.

"…Garrett was in the military, too," Lydia said. "He…he went to Ishval in goddamn fucking pieces and they sent back the rest in a box."

"Don't."

Lydia's frown was painful. She took a half-step toward her daughter, then stopped. "Oh, God, Delilah. I have to tell you. I have to tell you about him. I can't _not._"

"Don't." Tears started pouring down Delilah's face. She shook her head. "Please don't."

"Delilah…"

"Don't…"

But Lydia sighed and spoke two sentences—seven words in all. First three words, and then four words.

And it killed Delilah.

Some sort of wordless scream left her mouth, and she acted on instinct—she stepped forward and pushed out her arms, trying to get Lydia as far away from her as possible.

Lydia stumbled backward a couple of steps and lost her balance. She yelled as she fell—

—only, she kept falling through the open doorway.

Delilah wouldn't clearly remember the sound of Lydia falling down the narrow stairs, or the sickening thud as the woman's head hit the bottom step. Delilah wouldn't remember if she herself screamed again or not—but she would remember the sore throat. She would remember looking down the stairs and seeing the awkward angle of Lydia's body.

Most of all, she would remember the blood.

()()()()()

Delilah sat in the waiting room, staring at her bloodied hands. Her disgusting hands. Hands that hid the veins that pumped sludge through her body. Hands that had pushed her mother down a set of stairs.

"Excuse me?"

Delilah looked up.

"You're waiting for Lydia Thomas, right?" the nurse asked. "You can go see her now. Room 103."

"…Thank you." Delilah stood, but the nurse stopped her before she could leave.

"She's not awake yet. But you stopped the bleeding with alchemy, right?" The nurse smiled. "I think I've heard about you, helping Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Havoc. Maybe you should consider working here when you're older."

Delilah didn't reply.

The hallway was empty aside for a few nurses moving from room to room. Delilah easily found Lydia's room but hesitated before touching the door handle. Before she could do anything, the door opened from the inside and Lyn stood in the doorway. Her eyes were red, but she smiled at Delilah and suddenly enveloped her in a hug.

"If you hadn't been there when she fell, she would've bled to death. Thank you so, so much."

Delilah stood rigid in her ignorant stepsister's arms. She could hardly breathe.

Lyn pulled away a little. "She just…she just might not wake up." She retreated into the room and stood by the bed. Delilah followed her a moment later.

Lydia lay in the bed, her breathing shallow but steady; for the time being, a cone was placed over her face to help her breathe. Her arm had already been put into a cast. Her skin was pale and her hair had been pulled back away from where her temple had hit the stairs.

She almost looked dead.

"…I know it's a lot to ask, but…"

"I can't."

Lyn looked over to her. "…Yeah. I figured that kind of alchemy must be hard."

Delilah stared at her mother. "I can't."

There was silence for a few moments before Lyn spoke. "…Listen, Delilah. Thank you so much again, but you can go now, if you want. No one's keeping you here. But…you're always welcome, okay?"

Delilah nodded, then turned and left the room. She was hardly aware of leaving the hospital, nor did she care about how the earlier sprinkle of rain had turned into a downpour, about how the water made her hair and dress cling to her body as she walked.

_"You…you do have his eyes…."_

Delilah's tears mixed with the rain. "I can't. I-I don't."

_"I never wanted you until I gave you up."_

"Of course you didn't." She started running. _Why would you even want me in the first place?_

She slipped, and when she fell to the ground, pain shot through her knee and palms. She almost gave up then and there, but she wasn't done running. If she kept running, maybe she could escape.

She knew she couldn't, though. Not when Lydia was in the hospital, unable to wake up. Not when she had told Delilah about…

"Don't think about that." Delilah was gasping as she ducked into an alley. "Don't…" She slowed to a stop and suddenly felt cold from the rain. She looked around and saw a few boards leaning against a dumpster, leaving a small alcove sheltered from the rain. She knelt down and crawled into the space.

It was nighttime, but lights had been left on in the buildings around the alley, so she was able to make out the dark liquid leaking from her knee. She didn't bother healing it. She didn't want to touch the sludge that was her own blood.

Delilah closed her eyes and thought of a conversation she'd had with Izumi—a conversation that must have happened a lifetime ago. Izumi had told her about how she was special, since she could bear children one day and be happy with a family. And the possibility had made Delilah _feel _special because she'd always wanted a child and a family. But now…

…how could she ever bear a child when her own blood was something awful, the reason she'd been sick in the first place? How could she potentially risk the health of a future child with the blood she had?

How could she ever live with herself if her body was _this?_

_ "Garrett raped me."_

Delilah put her hands over her ears, but she still heard it.

_"He was my brother."_

* * *

_a/n: First of all, I'll get it out of the way and say I'm really nervous as to the feedback I'm going to get for this chapter; like...you guys can tell why I've been so nervous, can't you? I've never dealt with something like this before in both writing and real life; if I offend anyone or make anyone uncomfortable then I sincerely apologize. I don't mean to make anyone feel like that._

_I've decided to change the genre from romance/adventure to romance/drama. I don't think anything needs to be said about that._

_Anyway...I guess it should be said that Delilah's real struggle starts now. It's going to be the hardest thing for her to do, to come to terms with her parentage. It's not something she can just get over or change, but rather something she has to accept, not that she understands that yet. She won't understand it for a long time. And there's also the fact that she's just left her own mother in a coma; she of course feels responsible for that and will feel the need to fix it somehow, even if she doesn't exactly have the warmest feelings for her mother right now._

_Of course, Lydia's rape isn't her fault. Delilah's parentage isn't her fault or Lydia's fault. It's the father's fault. But that doesn't mean that Delilah won't feel outraged at both her parents for what happened; she'll also feel pretty mad and disgusted at herself. And that's something that's going to be against her every step of the way._

_Again, I apologize if any of this made you feel uncomfortable in any way. I just want this fic to be exciting and different and challenging to the characters. I'm extremely nervous about posting this chapter, but I've already made up my mind to do so. I hope you stick with me through this._


	26. Chapter 26

_DISCLAIMER: FMA isn't mine. The OCs and this particular fic are mine, but I don't profit off this in any way._

* * *

Twenty-Six

Al found Winry down at the far end of the hall; since they couldn't afford the luxury of two rooms for the time being, she'd found the decorative chairs that the staff had dotted around the hotel. It wasn't completely private, but it would have to do.

Winry was upset. Al had talked to Ed on the phone and had learned that their father, Hohenheim, was in Resembool, and when Al had brought it up, the conversation had led to Ling's family predicament and how he thought Al's body was a stunning example of immortality. Al, of course, hadn't agreed, and neither had Winry. _Especially _not Winry.

"It's funny…" Al chuckled slightly. "You and Brother always lose your tempers before I even get a chance to. I guess my timing's bad."

Winry looked down. "But… After seeing you suffer in that body, there's no way I want things to stay the way they are. And then you go and say this body might reject you…" She met his eyes. "You'll be able to get your original body back, right? …Right?"

Alphonse was silent for a moment. "You know Brother and I will do everything we can."

It wasn't a promise, he knew, but he didn't know what else to say.

"…Have you told Delilah? About the…rejection thing?"

About his body being a ticking time bomb.

Al shook his head; despite the serious topic, he was slightly embarrassed that Winry brought her up. Even after thinking for all afternoon, he wasn't exactly sure what his feelings for Delilah really meant. "I will later…when she gets back. Speaking of which…." He looked outside the window and saw how dark and rainy it was. "She should be back by now."

Winry noticed the worry in his tone. "She'll be back soon, I'm sure."

For some reason, Alphonse wasn't reassured.

()()()()()

The rain stopped right around daybreak, but Delilah didn't move from her spot. She stared ahead with dull eyes. Her father's eyes.

_He's not. He's not. He's not…!_

He kept lying to herself for those long hours, but no avail. Delilah couldn't see any reason for Lydia to lie to her. And the incest could have been the key factor to her illness as a child—there was proof itself. And…

She was an awful person. She'd always been a disgusting burden, and now she had absolute evidence. Her blood was sludge. If she grew up to have a child, she'd probably make it sick. She had put a woman, her own _mother,_ into a coma and couldn't even do _anything_ to fix it, even if she was an alchemist. She wasn't just useless, she was a good-for-nothing _mistake_.

Delilah let out a shaky sigh and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, wishing she could just disappear.

()()()()()

"Hey, there. I've been looking all over for you."

Delilah blinked her tired, blank eyes and looked up to see Ling kneeling in front of her. He wore his trademark grin as he extended his hand to her.

"You look pretty awful. Shall we head back so you can get cleaned up?"

Delilah lowered her head.

"Aw, come on. Alphonse asked me and Lan Fan to help look for you. He's been awfully worried about you."

Alphonse.

Edward, Winry, Izumi, Ling, Lan Fan, Pinako and Den and the Hugheses and even Mustang and Hawkeye and Havoc and Fuery and the Major—

How could she face any of them when she had done something awful? When she _was _something awful?

Ling hesitated, then kept trying to grin for her. "C'mon, Del; let's get going. Aren't you hungry?"

She was, but she didn't want to eat. She didn't deserve to.

Ling finally frowned. "Fine, then. I guess we'll do this the hard way."

He stood and moved the boards away from her before leaning over and picking her up bridal style. At first Delilah flinched from his touch and wanted to scream at him to get away from her, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She resigned to being carried.

"It'll look a little weird for an illegal alien to carry a girl into a hotel," Ling said cheerily, "so we'll have to go in through the window, okay?"

She didn't reply.

()()()()()

"Please eat, Delilah," Winry begged.

Delilah just stared at the bowl in front of her. A droplet of water fell from her hair into the soup. When Ling had brought her into the room, Winry had immediately helped Delilah clean up and change into fresh clothes, and Winry had bandaged her knee for her. While they'd been busy with that, Ling had gone out to find Lan Fan and Alphonse, who were still out looking for Delilah; none of them were back yet.

"You've got to be hungry," Winry said. "…Don't make me feed you like a baby," she tried to joke.

Delilah turned her head way to look out the window down at the street below. Winry fell silent.

Several minutes later, both girls picked up the unmistakable sound of Alphonse coming down the hall. Winry stood to go open the door, but Delilah stayed frozen. She didn't want to see Alphonse. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to be around anyone, but she especially didn't want to be around Alphonse. She didn't think she could take his kindness and concern ever again. She couldn't bear for him to see her like this, but she couldn't stop Winry from opening the door.

"Delilah!" Alphonse hurried to her bedside. "Are you okay? Where've you been?"

A lump formed in her throat. She didn't answer.

"…Hey." His armor clanked as he knelt down. "What happened? You can tell me."

She shook her head. She still didn't want to turn to him.

"Please… It…it wasn't Envy again, was it?"

Delilah shook her head again and suddenly let out a strangled sob—she wanted Alphonse to stop, she wanted to be alone, she almost wished that it _had _been Envy again. She put her face in her hands and tried to make the sound stop, but with every shuddering breath, her cries became louder.

Cool, stiff limbs wrapped around her and pulled her close. Alphonse's embrace only made her feel worse; she wanted to accept his comfort more than anything, but she was too sickened by herself to allow that.

"D-don't…" she whispered, her voice hardly coherent.

A moment later, Winry squeezed in and wrapped her arms around Delilah as well, and all the young girl wanted was to disappear.

The embrace lasted for a long time, even after Delilah's sobs had subsided into tired, silent tears.

"Please tell me what happened," Alphonse whispered. "Please tell me no one hurt you."

She couldn't answer that. She wouldn't have, anyway.

"We just want to help you, Delilah," Winry said.

Delilah only wanted to close her eyes and never wake up.

()()()()()

After a long while, Delilah's exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep. Al and Winry carefully pulled away from the girl and tucked her into bed. Alphonse had to wonder how tired she was if she fell asleep without her medicine. He hoped she hadn't been hallucinating again, but he also half-hoped that she had, because then there wouldn't be some awful reason for her to have been crying so badly, to have stayed out all night in the rain.

Alphonse stared at her sleeping form for a moment. She looked serene; the only signs of her earlier angst were the tear stains on her cheeks and her red eyes. He carefully moved a bit of her hair out of her face. He wished he could feel it.

With his only hand, Al ushered Winry to the other side of the room to speak quietly with her. "Ling said he found her in an alley and that you were going to help her clean up when he left to find me. Does she…are there any bruises…?

Winry looked scared. "Her knee is, and her hands are, a little. I think she fell."

"Anything else?"

"Well…no. But I didn't look _everywhere. _I mean…you don't think…?"

Al's only remaining fist was trembling. "Thanks, Winry." He walked past her and headed toward the door.

"Wait, Al."

He stopped and looked back.

"You…you said something about Envy. He's a Homunculus, right? What's he got to do with Delilah?"

Of course. The only thing Winry "knew" about Delilah's run-in with Envy was that Delilah had been threatened by someone on the street.

"Can I… Can I tell you later?" he asked. "I mean, it's her choice to tell you…."

"Where are you going?"

He opened the door. "To find out what happened." And then he left.

When Envy had threatened Delilah, he'd made her clean up her wounds. Her having bruises now didn't make sense unless she really had tripped, if the Homunculi had purposely kept her from healing herself, or if what had happened was something else altogether.

Alphonse swore to himself then and there that if someone had raped Delilah like he suspected—and even if they hadn't, if they had hurt her some other way—then he would make whoever did it wish they were dead.

()()()()()

The first lead Alphonse had was Lyn Thomas. He didn't know where she lived, but he asked around the market for a while before someone was able to explain that Lyn lived next to a bakery. Al followed the man's directions and soon found himself standing on the edge of a small gathering outside of an apartment building. It looks like a few officials were standing on the sidewalk at the epicenter of the crowd.

"Excuse me." Al tapped the shoulder of a nearby man (who seemed a little startled at being approached by a guy "in" a seven-foot-tall, half-assembled suit of armor). "Do you know what happened here?"

The man looked back at the scene. "There was a small fire, I think. In one of the apartments."

The woman standing next to the man turned to Alphonse. "The stove was left on when the Thomases went to the hospital last night. Thank God one of their friends went to make sure the house was secure."

This caught Al's attention. "The Thomases?"

"Oh, poor Lydia. I heard she fell, but I don't know anything else."

Thomases. Lyn, Lydia. Lydia fell. Lydia in the hospital. Lydia _Heywood._

Al just barely remembered to thank the people before he hurried off.

What had _happened_ last night?Was Delilah upset because Lydia had been hospitalized? Had she found out the woman was her mother? Had Lydia _died _from the fall?

He ran.

()()()()()

_Delilah ran. It was impossible to see where she was going. Though she didn't fall, she kept slipping in something hot and sticky. An unidentifiable noise roared in her ears._

_ She was exhausted. She wanted to stop but if she stopped then the noise wouldn't go away. If she stopped then it would overtake her. It sounded like gunfire and if she stopped she would be shot._

_ And finally, she fell forward, spiraling into a pit of hard angles and painful spikes._

Her eyes shot open.

It took her a few moments to realize that she lay in her bed at the hotel. That she'd just had a nightmare, and that she was safe now.

Delilah closed her eyes and put a hand over her face. If she'd had a nightmare, then there was a chance that she'd passed out from exhaustion like last time. Maybe yesterday had just been one long, sleep-deprived hallucination.

That definitely sounded better than reality.

She sat up and ran a hand through her hair, discovering that it was damp. So Winry really had helped to clean her up. Delilah also found that her gloves had been taken off, revealing small bruises on her hands.

Delilah looked up and saw Winry sitting in the chair; _Automail! _magazine lay in her lap, but she wasn't paying attention to it.

"…Hey, Delilah." Winry didn't seem to know what to say.

"Where are my gloves?" Delilah asked quietly.

"Uh, soaking in the sink. I already washed your dress."

Winry's words reminded Delilah of running through the rain. She looked down at her lap.

"Al should be back soon," Ling said, and Delilah belatedly realized that he and Lan Fan were at the coffee table, eating dinner. The sight of the food made her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day, minus the tea—

Her body suddenly locked into a fierce trembling. She felt dizzy and nauseous; she rushed to her feet and stumbled to the bathroom, barely managing to make it to the toilet before she began to dry-heave. There were sounds of surprise from the others and Winry followed her into the bathroom, hesitating for a moment before pulling Delilah's hair back. Not that Delilah had anything in her stomach to vomit onto it.

It had to have just been a dream, though. All of it. Nothing that awful could have happened to her—she couldn't _be _something so awful. The thought of tea just brought up the dream and certainly not reality.

"Delilah," Winry said. "Please… I know you don't want to talk, but…"

"It was just a dream, was it not?" Delilah said abruptly. Her stomach was starting to settle. "I just had not slept in a while. Just a dream."

"…Delilah…"

Delilah stood and nearly lost her balance, but she managed to get past Winry without any trouble. Ling and Lan Fan openly stared with concern at her. She ignored them and walked toward the door.

"Delilah, please just sit down and eat," Winry begged.

Delilah reached toward the handle, but the door swung open to reveal Alphonse. Both halted upon seeing the other.

"…Delilah…"

She stood rooted to the spot, unable to move and unable to think and unable to feel any semblance of calm—

"I…I went to the hospital," Alphonse said quietly.

No no no it was just a dream just a dream and if he knew about her body then she'd never—

"I…" He hesitated, then reached out for her.

"Don't touch me!" She tried to swat his hand away, but her wrist connected painfully with his arm.

Alphonse froze.

Delilah looked down and grabbed at her wrist, trying in vain to dull the pain. She breathed hard, trying not to cry.

"Just don't… I can't…"

She wanted to believe that it had all been a lie, but she knew it wasn't. Every moment with her mother had been real and every moment right now was real. But just because she knew that didn't mean that she still didn't want to run.

"S-she fell, and I couldn't stop her!"

So she hid behind a lie.

"She fell and—the blood—she won't wake up and—"

Warm arms wrapped around her and Winry hugged her close, quietly shushing her and trying to calm her down. Delilah cried loudly into the older girl's shoulder, but Winry just kept patting her hair and whispering kind words. It took a while for Delilah to calm.

"You need some sleep," Winry said when Delilah's cries had mostly faded. "But do you think you can eat first?"

Delilah nodded slowly, and Winry led her to the couch and gave her a lukewarm bowl of soup. Delilah honestly didn't care what it was. She ate slowly—the broth felt weird when it hit her empty stomach—but didn't eat much at all. She had to stop once or twice because she felt nauseous.

Winry put a gentle hand on Delilah's shoulder. "Now that you're calmer, do you think you can explain a little more for us? You can go to sleep if you want."

Delilah glanced up and saw Alphonse standing a little ways away. He was staring right at her.

She looked down.

How much did he know? That she pushed her own mother into a coma, that she was a rape child—of incest, no less? Did he think she was as disgusting as she thought herself to be?

"I…I went there, to their apartment and m… Mrs. Thomas… I couldn't stop it."

Winry's grip tightened on her shoulder.

"I could stop the bleeding but…she won't wake up and…"

Delilah shook her head and stopped speaking. She didn't want to remember it any more. She wanted to forget the entire thing.

After a minute or so, Alphonse slowly started speaking and explained what had happened when he went to the hospital. It was hard for her to pay attention, but she heard him talk about how he'd found out how Lydia Thomas had fallen into a coma. Delilah noticed that he said nothing about Lydia possibly being her mother, and she felt grateful to him; for that and for helping her explain so she wouldn't be asked any more questions. She didn't know if she could take any more questions.

"This sounds pretty bad," Ling commented quietly. He looked to Delilah, who'd raised her head a little. "Do you think a Philosopher's Stone could help?"

For a moment, Delilah thought she hadn't heard him right. "A…Stone?"

"Surely it can amplify your alchemy enough to help her—"

"They're made with human lives, Ling," Al said, quiet but stern.

"I'm not saying she has to _make _one."

"Ling—"

"Shut up, you two," Winry ordered. She turned back to Delilah and adopted a kind expression. "You should get some sleep. You've had it rough."

Delilah slowly nodded, and Winry helped her to her bed and got out her pills. Winry pulled the covers up over her as if she were a child.

Delilah was so exhausted that she only had two thoughts before she fell asleep: the wish that she would wake up from this nightmare; and the hope that maybe the Philosopher's Stone could not only save her mother, but also herself.

* * *

_a/n: I would've made this chapter longer, but a) I really liked where it ended off and b) I really wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible as a thank-you to all of you who reviewed. I got what, 11 reviews? And they were all so positive! You guys don't know how nervous I felt about making this story not only about the child of a rape victim, but also having that rape be incestuous as well. I just really, really want to hug you all and thank you so, so much for following and favoriting and generally being supportive. I won't let you guys down. I'm about to enter another busy spell, but hopefully that'll give me more time to make the chapters longer and better by the time I get around to updating._

_...But like, really. You guys are all amazing and make me so happy. *flails*_


	27. Chapter 27

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA. I only own this fic and my OCs. I do not profit from this._

* * *

Twenty-Seven

"What do you mean you don't want me to leave the room to go eat breakfast?" Winry asked. She kept quiet to avoid waking Delilah, but the incredulousness remained in her voice.

"Well," Al said, "Ling and Lan Fan are already gone and, well…what if she wakes up?" He glanced over to where Delilah slept.

Winry sighed. "You have to talk to her anyway, don't you? You'll be fine. She's most comfortable with you, anyways."

Alphonse recalled the previous night and couldn't help but doubt Winry. He had once promised Delilah that he would help her however he could—and, of course, he would stick to that—but how could he help her when she tried to keep him from touching her? When she wouldn't even look at him?

"Well…I'll be back from the restaurant as soon as I can, okay?" Winry said. She didn't give Al time to respond before she hurried out the door. Al didn't blame her for wanting to leave the gloomy atmosphere for a little while.

He turned his gaze back to Delilah. She looked so peaceful while she slept; it was almost easy to forget that she…

She what, though? Had a traumatic experience, yes, but something just didn't add up. What he knew of what happened and what he knew of Delilah didn't correlate. She wasn't telling him something, and it hurt him to think she'd hide anything.

Al stood and moved to her side as quietly as he could. Like he had noticed the other day, her face showed only peace as she slept. He moved his hand, intending to tuck a stray chestnut lock behind her ear.

_"Don't touch me!"_

He stopped, then pulled his hand away, hurt by the memory. Still, it wasn't as if he could _actually _touch her, anyway. He couldn't _touch _anyone.

At that moment, Delilah stirred, and Al was too surprised to do anything but watch as her eyes slowly opened. She blinked, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"…Hey," Al said finally.

She looked away before sitting up. She stayed hunched, closed. "Good morning."

"Uh…" He sat down on the edge of the bed. He was about to tell her about what he'd neglected to say to her, about his body possibly rejecting his soul, but he found that he couldn't. Instead, he asked, "Delilah…did you find out about her?" He didn't need to specify who he meant.

Delilah looked at her lap. There was a long pause. Then: "She's her. And Lyn is her stepdaughter. Lyn's father died in skirmish against Creta, and mine…Ishval." Her tone became dark with the last two words.

Alphonse didn't know how to respond.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, still staring at the sheets.

"I just want to make sure nothing else happened to you," Al said. "That you're all right."

"I'm fine."

He felt heartbroken at the obvious lie. She was even speaking differently, for goodness's sake. From the sound of it, her mother had gone on with her life after giving up her child; Alphonse certainly wouldn't have felt "fine" after learning that, after his mother fell down the stairs.

"Well…," he said. "Just remember I'm here for you if you need to talk, okay?"

She only nodded.

()()()()()

Now that her thoughts were more focused than the night before, Delilah pondered over what Ling had said—to use a Philosopher's Stone.

Now that she was mostly calm, she could see the big problems with trying to use the Stone. For one, she knew what they were made of—hell, she'd helped Ed and Al find out what they were made of, and she'd seen Marcoh's guilty face when he'd talked about creating the Stone. And Alphonse had told her what it had taken for Mustang to kill Lust, to run down her Philosopher's Stone.

She knew how dangerous they were, but that didn't mean that she still didn't want to use it. After all, Marcoh had used his to heal her illness and to help the people back home. She had seen what it could do. She could certainly heal her mother, but could she fix herself? Was it even possible to…what? Purify the sludge running through her veins? Separate the two halves of blood that made her a whole?

_No. It has to be possible. I won't stop until I fix myself. I won't stop until I'm not disgusting anymore._

She was going to fix things. She _had _to fix things. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she couldn't.

()()()()()

Ed came back that night—actually, Winry, who'd run into him downstairs, practically shoved him into the room.

His jaw dropped when he took in Al's battered body. After literally kicking Ling and Lan Fan out for racking up the room service bill, he took a breath to calm himself and took in the entire room.

He nodded absently to Del—something she was actually grateful for, since everyone had been acting so wary around her—and he asked, "Why's everyone's stuff in here?"

"It was cheaper to stay in one room," Winry said.

Ed mumbled something incoherent, then asked Winry and Delilah to gather up Al's missing pieces while he had Al sit on the couch. Delilah found herself happy that Ed was back and giving her something to do; though she still felt that she didn't deserve anything, she delighted in the fact that Ed was treating her normally.

Before Ed fixed Al up, he made his younger brother explain what had happened to his body—namely about Barry the Chopper and the Homunculi. Al was about to add something else to his story, but then glanced at Delilah and fell silent. Delilah was confused.

Winry, however, wasn't. "I thought you were going to tell her, Al!"

"Tell me what…?" Delilah asked hesitantly.

Ed put his hands on his hips. "Come on, Al. Spill."

Al fidgeted a little and looked down. He spoke in a small voice. "…I found out that my body might reject my soul."

Delilah couldn't comprehend what that meant. Ed was quicker to understand; he ran a hand through his bangs and sighed. "So one day you'll just stop being here, in that armor."

"Most likely."

"Why—?" Delilah cut herself off. Had Alphonse not trusted her enough to tell her? Did he somehow _know _about her? Did he find her repulsive now? Was that why—?

He looked to her. "I didn't want to worry you, especially after…"

Ed raised an eyebrow when his brother trailed off. "Hm? What else happened? Del?"

He turned to her, and she had to glance away before she quickly and quietly explained that a woman had fallen in front of her and hit her head and she hadn't been able to stop it. She left it at that.

Ed frowned and nodded in sympathy, but Delilah saw in his eyes that he wasn't entirely sold by her story.

He turned back to Al. "Well, we might as well fix you up." He clapped his hands and pressed them against Al, reattaching the younger brother's arm and jaw, making Al look as good as new. Delilah watched Al carefully as he stood and checked that his arm moved properly; even now, when she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, she felt concerned about him, especially with what he had said about his body rejecting his soul.

"Edward," she began hesitantly, "you can get Alphonse's body back, right?"

Al glanced at her, but she focused her attention on Ed.

His expression hardened. "You can bet on it. I'll return him to normal, Del, no matter what." He paused, taking a breath before turning to his brother. "Al… I dug up the remains of what we thought was Mom so I could verify her iden—"

"You _what?!_" Al and Winry screeched. Delilah only watched, almost numb to what was happening.

"I found something out, Al!" Ed snapped. "The thing we created wasn't our mother."

Al stared at his brother for a moment before he sat heavily upon the couch. He put his hands to his head and muttered, his red eyes wide. He looked to Ed. "But Brother, how could you go off and do something like that without telling me?!"

Ed sat down in a chair and motioned for Winry and Delilah to do the same. Winry sat on the couch beside Al while Delilah sat in the empty chair.

"Don't yell at me yet, Al," Ed said. "Because I'm convinced that you can be returned to your original body."

Al and Winry reacted greatly to the news, and while the three talked slightly lightheartedly for a moment about memories and Ed's reasoning for his theory, Delilah tuned them out.

Alphonse being able to get his body back made her ecstatic, it really did. But Delilah had been feeling distraught all day up until Ed had come back, and the feeling was returning. She was reminded her of her hometown, of sitting on the sidelines while the other kids laughed and played, sharing stories and secrets.

She blamed herself, her blood, her body, for not being able to enjoy herself with her friends anymore.

"…I couldn't possible know about those things," Ed said, pulling Delilah back to the present. "All those memories took place before you were ten, Al. If you have memories from before the accident, then that means the Al I bonded to the armor must be the _real _Al. That explains your memories from before you were ten, but what about _after?" _He tapped Al's chest for emphasis. "I mean, you don't have a brain, so where are all your memories being stored?"

Al tipped his head. "My blood seal?"

"That's just a symbol to keep your soul bound to the armor," Ed said. "I have a hunch that your body still exists somewhere and that your brain is still functioning."

Al became excited. "Oh! Like Barry the Chopper! His soul existed separate from his body!"

Ed nodded. "Alchemy states that a human being is composed to the body, soul, and spirit. I think that the spirit connects the body to the soul."

"Then the body and soul are drawn to each other because they're connected by the spirit!" Al said.

"That's right," Ed said. "That could be the case with your body and soul. Your body was taken, not as an ingredient for Mom's transmutation, but as a toll to pass through the Portal of Truth. And then I paid another toll, giving my arm to pull your soul back out. We couldn't bring Mom back because it's impossible to pull someone with no ties to life out of the Portal. But I must have been able to pull your soul out because you're _alive. _Al, do you remember seeing anything in there?"

Al thought for a long moment. "I…I didn't see Mom—I saw me! My body!" He shook his head, then turned to his brother. "I remember looking at you through the eyes of what we thought was Mom."

Ed looked stricken, pale. He turned away. "It was _luck _that your soul wasn't bound to that _thing._"

"…I guess that body rejected my soul," Al mused.

Ed sighed. "…I'm not asking for forgiveness, Al. I transmuted something awful and dragged you into it. And now I've given you a body that's a ticking time bomb."

The silence after his words would have stretched on for several minutes if someone hadn't knocked on the door. "Mr. Elric? You have a phone call."

Ed looked at the door curiously before standing and opening it to face the hotel manager. "Hey, mister. I'll get the phone in a sec; could you give us back our other room?"

"I actually thought you might want it. I saw you come back, Mr. Elric." The manager fished in his pocked for a key, which he handed to Ed. Ed turned and tossed it to Winry.

"Why don't you two move back into your room while we're downstairs?" he said before signaling for Al to follow him and the manager out. They were all gone in a few seconds, leaving Winry and Delilah alone.

"Did you understand all that?" Winry asked.

Delilah sat still for a moment. She ignored Winry's question. "…What was that 'thing' they mentioned?"

Winry stared at her. "They needed a body for their mom's soul, Delilah," she said quietly. "So they made one. I…never saw it, but it was supposed to be…awful."

So Alphonse had been bound to an "awful" body? Something deformed, maybe? And then rejected?

Had he been disgusting, too, in those few moments?

As much as Delilah couldn't stand her own body, the thought of Alphonse being like her was unacceptable. He didn't deserve that. He deserved far, far more than disgusting things.

"Hey." Winry stood and held out her hand to Delilah. "Let's get our stuff together, okay? We have our room back!"

Delilah accepted Winry's hand after a moment and let the older girl help her up before they went about collecting their things and bringing them into the adjacent room. Winry started talking to Delilah about how she would probably be going back to Rush Valley soon, maybe even tomorrow, because she'd been away for so long, but Delilah didn't listen attentively. She put her things away and placed her bag on her bed silently.

"…Hey." Winry walked up beside her. "Something bothering you?"

"I'm just tired," Delilah replied, trying to smile at Winry. The older girl didn't look convinced, but she let it drop.

"Let's go see what they're up to," Winry suggested, taking Delilah's hand and leading her out of the room. She headed to where the stairs led down to the lobby, but stopped short when she got to the corner. Delilah almost bumped into her; she was confused, but when she heard Al's voice wafting up from below, she listened.

"Brother," he was saying, "what you did was wrong, but I'm just as guilty. You don't have to shoulder the burden along like you always do. It's painful to watch. And…after Mr. Hughes died, I told myself that if getting my original body back meant someone else getting hurt, I didn't want it anymore. I met people who weren't really human either, but they still found meaning in their existence. They made me realize I can still live a full life. And the people I care about treat me no differently than if I were still human. This metal body is like a time bomb, but human beings made of flesh and blood aren't really all that different. After all, you don't know when you'll die. I'm not handicapped by this body if I choose to live a normal life. But..."

Al trailed off for a moment, then spoke strongly. "I've had enough. I don't want to spend my nights awake and alone anymore. I want my original body back."

Delilah didn't stay to hear any more. She turned and hurried back to her room, trying to stay calm.

She could hardly stand it. Alphonse only wanted to sleep. He could handle everything about his body aside from that. And she could sleep, could feel, could eat, and all she wanted was to either change herself or make it all go away. Like him, she wanted to change, but he wanted to be himself and she'd give anything to be different; and he was still so calm about himself and she wasn't; and she hated it but couldn't change what she wanted and what she felt and she felt despicable.

She rubbed away her stray tears and hurried off to bed. She was too tired to deal with anything anymore for the day. She needed to rest for tomorrow.

()()()()()

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me to the Hugheses?" Winry asked. She'd decided to stay a little longer than she'd thought the previous night, and was planning on visiting Hughes's grave that morning.

Delilah nodded. "I'll be fine. I only want to read."

Winry looked doubtful. "Well… You know how to get there from here? And back to the hotel, right?"

"Of course."

"I guess I'll stop by here on the way back, then, to pick you up," Winry said. "Or maybe Ed and Al will come, if they're not busy with whatever it is they're doing today." The boys had headed out long before Winry and Delilah had even woken up. "Uh, have fun, Delilah."

"I will. See you, Winry."

Winry walked away, and Delilah turned and entered the National Central Library. She hadn't been inside since she'd been busy helping Ed and Al solve the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone. She took a moment to feel awed by the enormous interior of the library before heading off into the maze of shelves. It was amazing how safe she felt in the house of so many books.

She scoured the bookcases, sometimes having to use a stepstool to check out the top shelves. After finding a few rather heavy books, she headed to a table in a quiet, private corner of the library and began to look through the books. There were only a few really relevant entries she found:

_ Inbreeding leads to a higher probability of congenital birth defects because it increases the proportion of zygotes that are homozygous, in particular for deleterious recessive alleles that produce such disorders._

_ Incestuous reproduction is expected to produce increases in spontaneous abortions of zygotes, perinatal deaths, and postnatal offspring with birth defects._

_ First-generation inbreds of any species are likely to have any and/or all of these symptoms: reduced fertility, both in litter size and sperm viability; increased genetic disorders; fluctuating facial asymmetry; lower birth rate; higher infant mortality; slower growth rate; smaller adult size; and loss of immune system function._

Delilah pushed the book away a little and put her head in her hands. She had no way of knowing about the lower fertility; she had had a disorder, which Marcoh had more or less taken away with the Stone; her face had never been an issue, so there was some sort of positive; she'd been born and she'd lived up till now; she'd always been small, and she doubted she'd have some sort of growth spurt; and she'd always been relatively healthy, especially when she'd been living with Marcoh. So she had some aspects of inbreeding, but not all, or not confirmed.

She didn't think she had to research any more about this aspect of her recently-discovered bloodline. Instead, she felt the need to start research some way to…well, "purify" her blood, but she had no clue about how to go about it. It was all genetics, and what she'd found told her that her disgusting traits came from alleles that were recessive and found in both parents, so she had no idea if she could…separate those, or something. Destroy them or something.

Something. She had no idea what that something was. Or if that something was even possible without accidentally killing herself. She had no idea what to do, even if she did find a Philosopher's Stone.

"Excuse me."

Delilah looked up to see an attendant standing next to her. She was about to ask what the woman wanted when the attendant picked up the open book and took a look at the cover.

"_Genetics_?" she read, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Um…w-would you give that back?" Delilah asked, unnerved and confused.

The woman ignored the request, opening the book to the page Delilah had left off at. Her eyebrows rose. "Incest, huh? What, you have a brother I don't know about?"

The words shot like lightning through Delilah. She felt hot with shame and embarrassment, and also anger and fear. She began to stand from her chair. "What—"

The woman looked at Delilah head-on and smirked wickedly. There was a slight crackle of electricity, and the woman's eyes became violet.

Delilah fell back into her chair in shock.

"Miss me?" Envy turned back to the book for a moment, but didn't seem to pay attention to it; his eyes flitted back to her. "I doubt you kept our agreement. Bet you blabbed everything you ever knew about Marcoh."

Delilah stared at him. Her heart hammered against her chest.

He smiled, but it was far from warm. "Don't worry. I won't kill you here. You'd scream and attract attention. And why kill you here when your friends aren't around to see? Or Marcoh? I only kept you alive because of the remote possibility of you being a _potential _sacrifice, but I'm sure you're too meek and stupid to do it." His eyes went back to the book. "Why _are _you looking at this stuff, anyway?"

"…g-go away…"

He chuckled slightly. "You're stubborn, aren't you?" He slammed the book on the table, making her jump. "Cut. It. Out."

Delilah trembled. She glanced down to the book for a second, but then couldn't look away from Envy.

He blinked, and then a smile spread across his disguised face. He started laughing lowly; he put his hand over his face, unable to take his amusement. When he calmed down, he looked back at her. "It's you, isn't it? Your body, sick and poisonous. Worse than a bastard. Ah, wait till I tell Marcoh." He laughed a little more.

Delilah had been mute with fear, but his last words broke her spell. "You—you have him?"

"What, want me to take you to him? Nah. You know what—I'm not even going to kill you today. I'll let you go. Let you live with the fact that you're not like others, that you're filthy. That you can't have what they have.

"I'll kill you one day, but not today. I'd take your silence as a thank-you, but I wouldn't accept it anyway."

With that, he walked away, disappearing into the maze of books.

Delilah stared at the spot where he'd gone. She stared for a long, long time.

* * *

_a/n: Just as a note, those excerpts from the books were either taken from wikipedia or taken from wikipedia and edited. I would've tried to write them myself but I got screwed over in college prep bio because we had a long-term sub that you couldn't learn anything from. I can understand the excerpts well enough but omfg the words would never have come to me._

_I was going to make this shorter, but then I thought up this scene and just needed to add it. And I would've made the chapter longer, but then it would've been too long. I just hope the next chapter is the right length for what I'm planning to do._

_Anyway, enter Envy again! You know, the Homunculi are great for symbolism. They're fantastic. I love them. Well, Envy's an asshole but I have that soft spot for him. I guess. I dunno._

_Anyway, just as a self-promotion, I uploaded a story called Fullmetal Disney. So far it's only a oneshot, but if I decide to add more, it should be a collection of AU, Disney-crossover oneshots. The first chapter is a crossover of Aladdin~_

_Please review on your way out! This story currently has 146 reviews, meaning that its review count is tied with my previous highest-reviewed fic! Getting more would be absolutely, positively fantastic. Thank you all so much for reading._


	28. Chapter 28

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own this fic and my own OCs. However, I don't profit from this. So shut it._

* * *

Twenty-Eight

Delilah stayed in the library all day, too afraid to move. After she'd managed to mostly calm down, she put the books away. She found a couple of alchemy tomes and tried to read them, but she was too nervous to become immersed, even though she'd moved to a more open area of the library where she could see others and they could see her. Whatever she managed to read, she quickly forgot.

She felt cold, and full of dread. She felt so afraid and alone, even in a room full of people. She wanted someone to be there with her, to tell her that everything was all right and that everything so far had just been a bad dream.

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that someone finally came for her.

Relief flowed through her at the sound of Al's footsteps; it was the first time in what felt like forever that she was happy to hear the clinking of his armor. She turned toward him, wanting nothing more than to throw herself at him, but she stopped when she saw a small splattering of blood on his stomach.

He noticed her stare, and stopped short. "There... You missed a lot, today."

She turned her eyes to the floor. She didn't want him to see the despair in her expression at his unknown half-lie. She longed to confide in him about Envy like she had once before, but how could she, without telling him about why she was at the library in the first place? She was too tired to think anymore, too tired to do anything.

Al stood for a moment more before he sat in the chair beside her. He rested his elbows on his knees and sighed lightly. "We need to head for the train station soon. Winry's going to Rush Valley."

His words distracted Delilah. "Already?"

"She, um…walked in on us battling Scar and found out he killed her parents."

Delilah, shocked, lifted her eyes to meet Al's. "…Scar?"

Alphonse reluctantly launched into an explanation, starting with how he and Ed, along with Ling and Lan Fan, had plotted to fight Scar in order to lure out and capture one of the Homunculi—thankfully, the plan had worked, as far as Al knew, and they'd captured the fat Homunculus. While Al and Ed had been fighting Scar, Ed had confronted the serial killer about him murdering the Rockbells, and Winry had overheard. Alphonse's words slowed when he described how Winry had picked up a gun and had almost killed the man.

"She's at the hotel now with Brother—well, they're probably headed for the train station right about now. She really wants to get back to her training. Even Mr. Garfiel called her. We should probably get going."

She nodded slowly, and together they stood and left the library.

Al glanced at her, then tentatively asked, "So…why did you go to the library alone today?"

Her stomach twisted. "I wanted to read."

"Read what?"

She faltered. "U-uh, alchemy."

He didn't call her out on the obvious half-lie. "I don't want you to go out alone right now. It's too dangerous. And I've, um, even been thinking…"

She halted. She couldn't take it, not anymore.

"Just…just stop already."

Al paused and turned around to face her. "What?"

She couldn't look him in the eye. "Please just stop."

His hands balled into fists.

"We'll I can't, Delilah!"

She was startled by the frustration in his voice. She looked up and saw that his eyes were narrowed.

"I thought we said we could tell each other anything, but you've left me clueless for days! I didn't even know if you were _alive _that night, or if someone had hurt you or—and I understand that you must be scared, but I've been worried sick about you_. _I've been trying to help you, but you won't even look at me or talk to me! All I want is to make you feel better! Tell me what's wrong!"

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She looked down, ashamed and afraid. A lump formed in her throat.

"Please," he said, his voice quiet, begging. "Please just tell me."

"I-I can't."

He reached forward, but she tried to smack his hand away. Her skin caught on one of the sharp points of his armor; she immediately pulled back and saw that a bit of blood had been drawn from her finger.

She'd hit him. She was bleeding.

He stopped, eyes wide. "Delilah—"

She clutched her hand to her chest. She didn't want him to touch her blood. "N-no."

He pulled his hand back and was quiet for a moment. Then: "No. I'm not taking that answer."

"…T-tomorrow, then," she pleaded. Anything to be away from this right now, anything to prolong his guaranteed disgust of her.

"…Fine. But no longer than that. Please promise me."

"…I promise." She hoped it would turn out to be a lie.

()()()()()

Winry patted the top of Delilah's head. "Keep these two in line while I'm gone, okay?"

Even though Delilah had relaxed by this point, she could only manage to give Winry the smallest of smiles. She'd miss her. "Of course."

Winry's smile was also sad. She turned to Ed and Al and wished them well, but then sobered. "Don't die on me, okay? None of you."

They all solemnly agreed. Ed began to say something, but the train whistle drowned out his words. Winry asked what he'd said, but Ed just turned and strode away.

"Wait, Brother!" Al called. "Bye, Winry!" he said, and Delilah said it as well before they started following Ed.

"Hey, Ed!" Winry called. "What did you say? I couldn't hear you!"

Ed stopped short and spun around. In true Edward Elric fashion, he pointed at Winry and yelled. "Next time I make you cry, they'll be tears of joy! Al and I will get our original bodies back no matter what, and we'll make you so happy that you'll cry! You can count on it!"

Winry smiled and waved, and soon her train had pulled out of the station.

Delilah turned around and saw Al teasing Ed about his words; the teasing turned into a squabble, and Ed even landed a kick on his brother. Al laughed.

She wished she still had the strength to smile with them.

They left the station and came out onto the sidewalk so they could head back to the hotel. The brothers' laughter died down, and Ed hung back a little so that he could walk next to Delilah. If Alphonse was aware of this, he made no point in showing it.

"So, Del," Ed said.

"Yes?" She looked at him, somehow able to give him a little bit more of her undivided attention than she could to his brother.

He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Al says you've been having it a little rough. And, well, it's been getting pretty dangerous lately. So, we were thinking that, uh, the best thing—"

Ed was interrupted by an annoying tapping noise. The trio of alchemists stopped and looked to see none other than Colonel Mustang sitting in a car, his arm out the window and his knuckles resting against the door. He jerked his thumb toward the backseat.

"Guess we'll talk about it later," Ed muttered to Delilah before opening the door and getting in. Delilah went in after him and Alphonse just barely managed to squeeze all of his bulk inside. Delilah felt squashed between him and Ed's automail.

"Do you want _all _of us, Colonel?" Ed asked pointedly as Mustang pulled the car out of the parking space.

"Actually," Mustang said, "Delilah? Would you mind helping us tonight? Someone's been hurt."

She blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected to be needed—not ever, not anymore. "Was it because of the Homunculi today?"

Ed raised an eyebrow at his brother. "You told her?"

"Everything, yeah," Al said.

Ed didn't seem all that surprised. He turned to Mustang. "What happened to the Homunculus?"

"Hawkeye called and said they've taken it to an empty house out on the outskirts, near a forest. That's where we're headed."

"Um…Colonel Mustang?" Delilah asked.

Mustang glanced in the rearview mirror. "Yes?"

"Have you fully recovered?"

"On the surface. But I'm running short on pawns I can move, so I have to move myself. Anyway… Delilah, you haven't gotten any better at treating wounds lately, have you?"

"No, sorry."

"Then we're stopping to get help."

()()()()()

Dr. Knox was a smoker, which immediately offset Delilah. She couldn't stand the smell of burning tobacco, nor could she understand why anyone would want to inhale smoke into his lungs. But before he was a coroner, Knox was a respectable doctor and knew how to treat people medically, so he had her respect.

What really distressed Delilah, though, was that Lan Fan was their patient. She'd cut off her own arm in order to evade a Homunculus and escape through the sewers; all that was left on her left side was a bloody, mangled stump. Knox reacted gruffly to the explanation for the wound, but Delilah remained silent. The doctor ordered everyone but her and Hawkeye out of their makeshift OR, so they'd all gone to the back room, where they were keeping the Homunculus.

Delilah was rather glad that she didn't have to see that monster.

Hawkeye held Lan Fan still while Knox worked at the tendons on the bodyguard's shoulder, cutting off the excess flesh that hadn't been sawed off cleanly; Lan Fan screamed into her gag. Delilah mostly helped by tending to Lan Fan's minor wounds, but when Knox was done he asked her to staunch the bleeding from the wound.

By now, Lan Fan had passed out from the pain, but it was obvious that she would live.

Knox went to cleaning his tools while Hawkeye picked up a rifle and headed outside to act as guard. Delilah was about to follow her when Knox spoke.

"I haven't seen alchemy like that in a long time. Who taught you that?"

She glanced back at the weathered man. "Um… Marcoh."

He raised an eyebrow. "So he's still alive, huh? I knew he disappeared, but I didn't know if he'd died or just run away. Not that I blame him. Ishval was a bloody hell."

Delilah didn't know what to say. Knox became preoccupied with his equipment once more, so she left the room and headed outside.

Hawkeye stood about ten paces in front of the house. Delilah watched her for a moment before she descended the steps and leaned against the house. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, but then looked at her hands. They were coated with Lan Fan's blood.

It had been a long day and Delilah was far more than just exhausted, but she suddenly felt happy. For once, blood was on her hands because she had helped someone—helped someone with something that she hadn't caused. A few days ago, her mother's blood had been on her hands; today, it had been her own when she'd struck Al; and now, Lan Fan's because she had helped to save her life.

Oh, goodness, it felt good to help someone live again. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed it, how it had been such a big part of her life when she'd lived with Marcoh.

But still, she wasn't sure if she could ever look at her hands anymore without feeling like a freak.

She turned her eyes to Hawkeye, who was still diligently keeping watch. "…Lieutenant?"

The blonde looked back at with both curiosity and kindness. "Yes?"

"I…I know I don't know you very well, but…could I ask for advice?"

Hawkeye smiled and took a few steps toward Delilah. "Ask away."

"I…" Delilah looked down for a moment. "If you promised someone something that you didn't want to do, would you still do it?"

The woman's expression turned stoic. "If I promised to do something like that, it would have to be for a very important person. Someone I trusted more than anyone else, and someone who trusted me more than anyone else. But to answer your question: yes." She smiled a little. "Even if it isn't something you want to do, you promised because you care about the person, right?"

It had been a while since Delilah had felt a blush of embarrassment touch her cheeks, but it was a fleeting feeling. She'd promised to tell Alphonse because it had gotten him to stop asking questions, not because she felt sorry for all the worry she'd put him through (not that she didn't feel that way). "…If I go through with it, I don't know how he'll react." Her throat closed up, and she looked down.

"Well… I would still trust that he would care about you. If he didn't, then he couldn't have meant that much in the first place. I'll admit that sometimes people make mistakes about who they can trust, but then there are people you can trust with your whole life." She smiled once more. "And if you're talking about who I think you're talking about, I can tell you that 'he' is certainly the latter."

Delilah didn't know how to answer, but in any case, she was interrupted when voices from inside started yelling. She could almost make out what was being said.

Hawkeye looked in the direction of the noise and sighed. "Why am I not surprised…?"

"Are they arguing about the Homunculus?"

"Most likely."

Delilah shuddered, remembering Envy. "I never want to see whichever one they have."

"Ling said one of them called it Gluttony."

Delilah tipped her head. "Why call it Glut—"

There was a loud, sudden screech, and suddenly Delilah wasn't there anymore.

* * *

_a/n: Can I just tell you all that you're awesome, because you really are. This story has 171 reviews right now as I post this, and that is almost 30 more than I've ever had on a story, ever. Ever. You guys are all so amazing and make me so happy, you have no idea._

_In case any of you are interested, I'm going to talk for a little bit about the things I'm putting in this story (part of it is that I see them as obvious things and think everyone will notice them but ahahha it's hard being the all-seeing author and plus I just wanna talk right now). I had Al mention it last chapter, I believe, but Delilah's so affected by what's happened to her that she's even speaking differently. Before, she spoke in a rather...detached manner, especially at first, and the only times she used contractions was if I messed up while editing. Now she uses them all the time; I'm using it to show how her innocence has pretty much been blown to smithereens by this point._

_Also, Delilah and blood really seem to, well, have a lot of screentime together. There was her period, her mother's blood, her own blood, Lan Fan's blood, and if you watched FMAB/read FMA at all I'm pretty sure you know where she's about to end up. *wiggles arms* symbolismmmmmmmmmm... I think. XD_

_Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter! I hope I don't take too long to update, but I'm going to be uber busy this week. Uber. Busy. Holy crap I don't even want to think about it._

_Stay flamin'!_


	29. Chapter 29

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own this fic and my own OCs. I don't profit from this._

* * *

Twenty-Nine

Alphonse stared uncomprehendingly at the end of his arm, where his hand should be.

Then he looked to where Envy's lower half, disguised as Lan Fan, knelt on the ground. The flesh was already starting to dissipate into the air.

Finally, he looked to Gluttony. The fat Homunculus stared at the gouge he'd put into the earth, at the mess he'd made. "Oops."

Inexplicable rage overtook Al. He launched himself at Gluttony, pinning the Homunculus down and grabbing his protruding limbs with his remaining hand.

_ "Spit them out!" _Al shook the creature beneath him. "Now! Now! You _ate_ them! Brother and Delilah and Ling—spit them _out! Out!"_

Gluttony seemed confused. "But I swallowed them."

"_No!_ Spit them out!"

But there was a crackle of light, and Gluttony's ribs started retracting into his body, hiding the eye in his stomach. Soon it was impossible to tell that Gluttony had been a dangerous, ravenous creature at all.

Except for the fact that people Alphonse cared about were gone.

He pulled away from the Homunculus and clutched at his head. He fell forward, his elbows crashing into the ground.

"Brother… Brother…! We have t-to get our bodies back, together! And D-Delilah…I yelled at you and…now…" _I can't apologize to you. I can't help you. I'm sorry. You and Brother and Ling… I'm so sorry…!_

He slammed his fist into the ground. "No…" He kept pounding his fist against the ground. "No, no no no no no _no NO!"_

He was alone, and he didn't know what to do.

()()()()()

When Delilah awoke, her head hurt like hell.

Her thoughts spun around in her skull for several moments. She belatedly realized that the area around her was almost pitch-black, and that she lay in some sort of thick, lukewarm liquid. She slowly sat up and could feel and hear the excess liquid run out of her hair and back into its original pool.

"Where…" She put a hand to her temple and found that her palm was sticky.

Then she smelled the metallic tang, a scent she knew.

She screamed in fright and scurried backwards; her hand knocked painfully against something hard and somewhat rough. She had no desire to know what it was.

She scrambled to her feet, finding herself ankle-deep in what she hoped wasn't blood. She looked in every direction, trying to figure out where she was, trying to keep herself calm. She wasn't doing very well.

"H-hello?" she called, but her shout came out high-pitched and incoherent. She expected there to be an echo, as if she were in a cave, but there was none.

Her eyes grew wide, and her breathing started to quicken. She didn't understand. She was just with Hawkeye, in front of that abandoned house. She had just helped Lan Fan. Where was she now? Why was there blood everywhere? How did she get here?

She let out another jumbled scream, trying to call out for help. Was she the only person in this place? Was this…

…was this Hell?

Delilah's knees weakened, and she fell onto all fours. The stench of the blood almost overpowered her.

Was she dead? Had that Homunculus killed her without her even knowing?

"…ey…!"

Her head snapped up. Had that been a person? Or maybe a demon? She'd never been one to really believe in the supernatural, but if she really was in Hell…

"It's because of my blood, isn't it?" she whispered. "Because I pushed her. Because I lied." Tears started to leak out of her eyes.

She really _was _in Hell. She had to be.

"…hey…! …here…?"

She stood up again._ No… He couldn't be here, not here, not with me…._

Even as she thought that, a tiny pinprick of light appeared out of the darkness. "Hey!"

Sudden, inexplicable relief shot through her. "Edward!" She started running through the thick pool, struggling to stay upright. "Edward!_ Edward!"_

"Del? Is that you?"

She only called his name more as she ran; the light became bigger and more defined with each passing second, and soon Delilah was able to make out the glint of golden hair and silver automail. He was running too, and before she knew it, they collided and tumbled onto the bloody ground.

"Dammit, Del," Ed said, but with relief and happiness in his voice instead of any sort of scorn. He held up a burning plank of wood in his automail hand, and with his flesh arm he gave her a hug. "Al and I thought you were _dead._"

She clung to him. "I thought… I thought I was alone here."

He smiled, a little helplessly, and patted her head. "Well, at least we're together now. We just need to find a way outta here. Ah—actually, first, do you mind if I ask you something? I mean, Envy came after you were swallowed. I just want to make sure you somehow aren't him."

Dread crept back into her. "E-Envy?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, though. Anyway… What did I tell you about the night before we left Dublith?"

"N-Nina."

He nodded. "Ask me a question."

"…Um, what did you tell Winry at the train station?"

Ed's face flushed. "W-well, I promised not to make her cry. Not until Al and I get our bodies back."

Delilah managed to smile a little.

Ed smiled too. "Okay. Now that that's over with, we should get going. We need to find a way out."

The good feeling she'd just had evaporated. She pulled away from him so that she could face him fully. "But…this has to be Hell."

He frowned. "We can't be dead, Del. I can't be dead yet—I have too much to do. And even if we were, we couldn't be in _Hell. _I might get into Hell, but you wouldn't."

His words dumbfounded her.

Unease spread across his face. "…Del?"

"This _must _be Hell," she whispered. She put her face in her red, sticky hands. "This must be my punishment."

Ed faltered before he grabbed her by the shoulder. "Hey, Del. We're not dead. We're just in Gluttony's stomach. He swallowed you, and then he swallowed me. But don't think for a second that he killed us, okay? We're still alive, and there has to be a way out. I'll get us out."

She started shaking her head long before he'd finished speaking. "It is. It _is _Hell."

Ed grew frustrated, but he tried to keep calm. "C'mon. We've got to get back to Al. He's got to be worried sick. He was awfully worried when we found out Gluttony swallowed you. I even think he went a little crazy."

Delilah snapped.

"I _deserve _to be here, Edward!" She slapped her hands into the blood, leaning forward, trying to make him listen. She was tired of keeping everything to herself. She was scared and tired and she couldn't stand it anymore. "I deserve it."

Ed was taken aback by her declaration, but he was still able to argue with her. "Del, you're one of the last people who should be—"

"You're wrong!" she shouted, tears beginning to stream from her eyes once more. "Edward, I—I pushed her! I pushed her and it's all my fault—"

She broke off, unable to speak properly.

Ed became silent and sober. He put his hand on her shoulder once again, this time more gently. "Is this about that woman you said fell?"

She nodded, then looked to the red liquid that they sat in. "S-she…she's my mother, Edward. I found her completely by coincidence, a-and I pushed her…."

Ed let her sniffle and sob in silence for a moment. He seemed to be thinking. "Can I ask why?"

She dug her fingers into the ground. "Please don't get…disgusted with me."

"Disgusted? How could I get disgusted?" he asked quietly.

"Because…" Tears fell from her face and landed into the pool. "She told me that she gave me up because I, um… H-her brother…" A sob left her throat. "H-he raped her."

Ed stared at her. "He what?"

"…Please don't make me say it again."

There was shocked silence.

"I…I'm sorry, Del." He crossed his legs underneath him; the blood sloshed around his pants and shoes. "Is that what you've been keeping from me and Al?"

She nodded.

Ed sighed. "…I wish you hadn't kept quiet."

Her brows furrowed. She looked up at him.

He smiled a little. "Do you really think Al or I would be disgusted by you? I mean… It's an awful thing. I'm not going to say it isn't. I'm not going to say that you deserve something like that—no one does. But you're talking to _me_, here." He held his automail arm forward for emphasis. "The last people who're gonna think of you as something disgusting are me and Al. And besides, anyone who would see you that way is just plain wrong. You shouldn't be judged for something you can't help."

She was confused. "But…I pushed her."

"Well, I'm also not gonna say that was the right thing to do, Del. The only way I'd think badly of you would be if you didn't feel guilty about that. But you don't think that way, which is why Al and I are friends with you in the first place. You're a good person in a shitty circumstance, like Al. Which reminds me, you should tell him all this."

Icy fear clutched her heart. "No—please don't tell him, please don't make me."

He raised an eyebrow. "I get that you're scared, Del, but are you really that nervous about telling _Al _of all people? He's going to feel bad and shocked, yeah, but he isn't going to care about who your parents are. All he wants is to make sure you're all right."

"…I don't feel all right."

He gave her a sad smile, then stood, sighing a little as he did so. His expression suddenly transformed into a grin. "I know you're having a hard time. But we can sort this all out once we get outta here and get back to Al." He extended a hand to her. "We need to at least try. I can't give up on Al, and I know you can't, either."

She stared at him. "Why are being so nice about this…?"

"I don't feel all that happy about my dad, either. I've made more mistakes than anyone can count. Plus, you're my friend." He waved his hand at her a little, as if trying to remind her that it was there. "Come on, let's get going."

She still wasn't over her problems. She didn't know if she would ever be. But for that moment, she was able to smile genuinely at Ed. She took his hand and allowed him to help her stand.

"Good. Now—here, I found this while I was looking around." He pulled off a makeshift sash that he had used to tie something to his back and handed it to her; it held Al's hand.

"Why just his hand?" she asked concernedly. She held the hand for a moment before putting the sash on, allowing the metal to rest at the small of her back.

Ed shrugged. "My guess is that when Gluttony swallowed me, he was only able to get a small piece of Al, which means that Al is still back there. The only thing is, I think Gluttony might've swallowed Ling, too. We should probably find that idiot prince before we get out of here."

"What did you just call me?"

Ed and Delilah, surprised, turned to see Ling wading through the blood toward them; he carried his own torch. They'd been so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the light.

Ed grinned. "An idiot price. But at least you're here now." He then frowned. "How do we know you're not Envy?"

"Oh, please. Want me to recite the hotel room service bill from top to bottom?"

Ed twitched a little. "Okay, okay, you're you."

Ling stopped walking. "And how do I know you're not Envy, you little—"

Ed launched himself at Ling, and the prince easily deflected his punches and kicks. "So it _is_ you."

When Ed managed to calm down, Ling turned to Delilah. "And what about you? Not to be rude or anything, but I'd rather not have Envy disguise himself and attack us when we're not expecting it."

Delilah thought for a second. "Oh—I was the first one of us you told about being a prince."

Ling nodded. "Good. We're all us. Now, do you have any idea about where we are?"

"I'm guessing Gluttony's stomach, but I have absolutely no idea how it could be this big," Ed said. "He did swallow the Colonel's fire. I also found Al's hand, so it's pretty obvious we're here because of Gluttony."

"Well, wherever we are, Envy wanted me here, so this place can't be very pleasant," Ling said.

Delilah looked nervously at the prince. "You don't think this could be…"

"It's not Hell," Ed said. "Anyway. I'm thinking we should pick a direction and start walking. We're bound to come across something sooner or later."

Ling and Delilah exchanged a glance, and Ling shrugged. "Well, I can't think of a better option. Lead the way."

()()()()()

"…Can we please rest?" Delilah asked. She'd felt tired for the past ten minutes, but she'd only now gained the courage to speak up. Along their way, they'd managed to find more wood, which they carried in case they needed more fuel for what little fire they had.

Ed looked back and nodded. "Sure. There's someplace to sit right over there." He pointed to a cluster of dilapidated stone buildings. He led the way over, and soon the trio sprawled out onto a fallen pillar.

"I'm starting to think there's no way out," Ling said from where he lay on his stomach. Delilah nodded in agreement, too tired and overcome with the feeling of defeat to voice her thoughts.

Ed sat up straight. "Well, I'm not gonna think that! If there's no exit, I'll just make one!"

Ling lifted his head. "Make one?"

Ed scurried off the pillar and transmuted the blood to make a circle of ground free from the liquid. He poked at the floor.

"It's more like clotted blood than dirt," he muttered. He transmuted the floor to make a hole leading straight downward. "Someone mind handing me a torch?"

Delilah sat up and lighted one of the unused torches before taking her own, almost used-up one to Ed. He thanked her before dropping the torch into the hole. The light faded quickly from sight. There was no sound signaling that the wood had hit a bottom.

The trio shared a look.

"Let's look for a wall," Ling said hurriedly, gathering up their wood.

"I agree," Delilah said.

"Yeah, let's go." Ed took Delilah's hand, and soon the group was dashing away.

()()()()()

"There's a fire hydrant."

Ling turned to Delilah. "What?"

She pointed a little ways away from where they were walking. Sure enough, a fire hydrant stood perfectly upright, looking no worse for wear despite its location.

"That's the last thing I expected to see in Hell," she said with a laugh. The stress was getting to her.

Ed stopped short. "Dammit…" He pulled something out of his back pocket, and it took Delilah a moment to realize that it was a gun. She inched closer to Ling.

"He got that from Hawkeye," Ling told her, noticing her nervousness.

Ed stared at the weapon for a moment before pointing it into the darkness and firing. The noise hurt Delilah's ears, but she noticed that there wasn't an echo. Ed pointed in another direction and fired, but the same thing happened. He even pointed the gun into the air, at an angle away from them, but that didn't yield any new results.

He lowered the weapon, dejected, and then clicked the safety button before putting it away. "Let's keep going."

"There's no way out, is there?"

Ed looked back at Delilah and saw her tears. He hesitated.

"There's gotta be," Ling told her. "I can't be emperor if I'm stuck in this place. C'mon, we have to keep walking. We can make it. Lan Fan's waiting for me, and Al's waiting for you guys."

Delilah couldn't stop herself from crying, but she nodded and followed after them.

_This is Hell. This really is Hell._

()()()()()

"When we get out of here," Ling panted, "I'm going to eat…everything I can…."

"I'll even let you order anything you want off room service," Ed said, his voice wavering.

Ling suddenly collapsed onto an outcropping of rock. Ed didn't realize it for a few moments and kept walking, but Delilah knelt beside the prince and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Ling?"

"I don't think I can go any farther…." His stomach growled.

It was then that Delilah realized that she hadn't eaten since breakfast, and she had no idea how long ago that might have been. "We have to keep going, though," she said.

Ed turned around. He twitched with annoyance. "What, Ling? Giving up already? Pathetic."

"You guys go on without me," Ling said weakly.

Delilah started crying again in frustration and exhaustion. "Y-you said so yourself—Lan Fan's waiting for you. And you have to become emperor of Xing." She rubbed at her tears, only managing to smear her face with even more blood.

Ling said nothing.

"Maybe we'll just go on by ourselves, then!" Ed snapped. "We'll get out, but we'll just have to tell all your Xingese friends that you were too _hungry _to get out!"

Again, there was no response.

"Lan Fan's probably really worried about you," Delilah said, light sobs punctuating her words.

Ed sighed in frustration and waded through the blood back to them. "Hold this," he said, thrusting his torch into Delilah's empty hand before he grabbed Ling and hoisted him onto his back and began trudging off into the darkness once more. Delilah hurried to her feet and followed, but she didn't have to move very fast to keep up.

"…Why…?"

"There are people waiting for me to come back, for all of us to come back!" Ed snapped to the prince. "You said it yourself. I have no intention of dying here with you in this place. We're going to get outta—"

Ed tripped, and the duo fell into the pool. Delilah helped them both up, and somehow they were all able to manage to get to some sort of stone platform that rose like a god-sent island from the blood. They all collapsed onto it, gasping for air.

"I'm so tired," Delilah murmured, curling into a ball on her side. Laying any other way except for on her stomach was impossible, since Al's hand still rested against the small of her back. She missed him terribly.

_I promised you I'd tell you everything, and at the time I didn't want to, but now… I'd give anything just to be back…. _She started to tremble. _I should've told you everything when I could. You deserved to know. I was just scared of how you'd react, and I'm still scared, but… I'm so sorry for making you worry. I'm so sorry…!_

These thoughts accompanied her into a light doze. Just when she was about to fully fall asleep, someone shook her shoulder, and she turned to see Ed.

He grinned triumphantly. "I made food."

She blinked uncomprehendingly.

"It's not really food," Ling called. "It's a shoe."

Delilah sat up. "A shoe…?"

Ed lifted his leg and wiggled his metal toes. He then handed her a bowl full of leather and water. "I even made all the silverware!" he joked.

She smiled after a moment and took the bowl. The leather was absolutely revolting, but she managed to eat it all.

"I'm sorry."

Ed and Delilah looked to Ling. "For what?" Ed asked.

"Well, Ed, you're only in here because you were trying to protect me."

Ed shrugged. "No big deal."

Delilah put her bowl down. "Call it selfish," she said quietly, "but I'm kinda glad you got swallowed. If you guys weren't here with me, I think by now I'd have…" She trailed off and played with her spoon, stirring it around the empty bowl.

For a few moments, all that could be heard was the sound of iron scraping iron.

"Well," Ed said, "at least we're all here and healthy and can keep looking for an exit."

Ling sighed. "You're quite the optimist."

Ed grinned. "I'm not an optimist. I'm just stubborn. If I even think about giving up, I have to answer to Al's iron fist. I can't afford to be pessimistic." He stood up. "We should get going. The next time we break, we'll sleep."

Ling opened his mouth to say something, then suddenly looked out into the darkness. "Wait."

"What?" Ed asked.

Ling said nothing.

Delilah looked out into the abyss. She strained her ears for a few seconds before she heard the sound of sloshing blood.

Someone was coming.

* * *

_a/n: Guess who had a snow day today. That's right, in March~! I didn't think I'd have time to update for a while, but I managed to write 90% of this chapter today, and the other 10% was written yesterday and the day before. Ahh, I love snow days. P__retty much all of you were screaming at me to update quickly, so thank the weather gods for giving mercy on all of us. _

_Anyway, Delilah finally told someone~! And I'd actually always planned on that first person being Ed while they were in Gluttony's stomach. I thought up one or two different ways of having that conversation, but in the end I decided on this, since I really wanted that whole sit-down conversation between her and Ed to happen before any more shit hit the fan. (Some more shit's going to hit the fan next chapter, fyi.) I hope I paced the conversation right ;; But of course, something like that isn't just something that you can talk about once and then everything's all hunky-dory. Delilah's just distracted right now with trying to stay alive and thinking that she's in Hell. (Holy crap, I'd definitely think I was in Hell.)_

_Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I can't say it enough, all the reviews make me absolutely ecstatic. You guys deserve a medal or something. Or more chapters. I might be able to get you more chapters._


	30. Chapter 30

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs._

* * *

Envy rushed out of the darkness and knocked the trio out.

When Delilah awoke, she discovered that she'd been tired to a chair. She blinked in confusion, and looked to see that Ling was sitting next to her, also tied to a chair. Ed was nowhere to be seen.

"SURPRISE!"

Ling and Delilah both gave starts as, one by one, the Homunculi paraded into the room, followed by a white-robed man. All of them had party hats on that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY."

"What's going on, here?!" Ling snapped.

Selim Bradley smiled at them. "You guys get to be our new brother and sister! Isn't that great?"

Envy stood in the corner and muttered obscenities under his breath. Sloth stood next to him; a snot bubble formed at his nose as he slept.

Delilah didn't understand. "What...?"

The robed man stepped forward. "I am your Father. And you two are going to be my new Greed, and my new Lust." He smiled.

Gluttony jumped around. "Lusty! Lusty! Which one of you shall be Lusty?"

Envy smacked his head repeatedly into the wall.

Fuhrer Bradley frowned. "Father, I honestly don't know which would be the better Lust."

Delilah and Ling started squirming in their chairs. "Pervert!" Ling screeched.

Selim frowned. "The girl doesn't have the boobs to be Lust."

Delilah's face flushed.

Father shrugged. "Let's leave it up to chance." He put his hands behind his back. "Girl. Pick a hand."

"N-no!"

"JUST PICK ONE, DAMMIT!" Envy yelled.

"...Left?"

Father smiled and pulled a Philosopher's Stone from behind his back. "Congratulations! You shall become..."

()()()

"...Delilah?" Alphonse asked incredulously as her inhuman fingers kept him and Ed pinned to the wall.

Her face flushed deep red, and she shifted, trying to hide her chest under her arms. But then Lust took over her body and straightened her posture before smirking red lips.

"Aw, Lust, don't let her take control. It makes you unappealing," Greed said beside her.

Ed and Al's eyes widened. "LUST?!"

~End April Fool's~

* * *

Thirty

A looming shadow appeared out of the darkness, and it was a shape Delilah knew. She scrambled to her feet and hurried to hide behind Ed just as Envy's features became clear.

Delilah huddled behind Ed and clutched at his shirt. She peered over his shoulder. "H-he knows about my…c-condition," she whispered.

Ed glanced back at her. He understood at once. "How?"

"Oh, little Miss Incest," Envy called, an odd grin forming on his otherwise annoyed face. "I didn't know you were here, too."

Delilah flinched.

Ling raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment about the title. "What do you want, Envy?"

The Homunculus made a sound of disgust. "I saw all the light and I wondered who it was. Should've known it'd be you guys." He took a seat upon an outcropping of rock and rested his chin against his fist. "Are you guys having _fun _in the Hellhole so far?"

"Tell us how to get out of here, Envy!" Ed snapped, ignoring the question.

Envy shifted, resting his elbows on his legs. He glared at them. "There is no way out. We're all going to die here."

Delilah's knees weakened and she fell against Ed; he turned around in concern and put an arm around her, helping to keep her standing. She stared with wide eyes at the floor.

Cynical derision dripped from Envy's voice like blood. "Oh, is Miss Incest scared to die here?"

"Stop calling her that!" Ed snapped. "Tell us how to get out of here, now!"

"I told you, idiot. _There is no way out. _Gluttony swallowed us. But, O Great Alchemist, surely _you _should know where we are. It's happened to you before."

Ed tightened his grip on Delilah's arm, and she winced. He didn't notice.

"This can't be the Portal of Truth," he said, almost in a whisper. "That place wasn't dark or bloody, it was pure white…."

Envy seemed only mildly interested. "So that's what the real place is like?"

"'The real place'?"

"Gluttony is a failed experiment by our father to create a Portal of Truth. This place here exists somewhere between reality and truth." Envy scowled, and his tone became rougher and darker. "There is no way out. We just get to sit here and _die."_

Ed suddenly let go of Delilah to stalk forward a couple steps. "You're lying! You have to be lying!"

"Tell us the truth, Envy!" Ling yelled. "Say something!"

Envy lowered his head and didn't respond.

Despair clutched at Delilah's heart, and she lowered to the ground, her knees banging onto the stone.

Of course.

Of course she would die this way, in a dark place, a bloody place, in Hell. She had already known that she deserved it, deserved to be in this place, but the past few hours with Ling and Ed had given her hope that maybe they could find a way out, get back to Al, back to Marcoh, that maybe she'd be able to be happy again.

She'd been stupid to believe that. She'd been stupid to think that she'd live.

But she still didn't want to die.

"I want answers!" Ed yelled shakily. "Who is this 'father' of yours that wants a Portal so badly he'd try to create one? Is it Fuhrer Bradley?"

_ "Bradley? _Hmph!" Envy said in disgust. "Why would that _brat _be our father?"

Ed frowned in thought. "But he's still a Homunculus, right?"

Delilah almost thought that the world had shifted beneath her. Bradley? A Homunculus? The leader of Amestris, a monster?

Ed was muttering, just loud enough to be heard. "If the Fuhrer is involved, then the Ishval War must have something to do with it too, right…?

"Oh, Ishval?" Envy said; a new, disturbing sound of happiness entered his voice, and it made Delilah's skin crawl to hear it. "There's never been such a brilliant civil war! Do you remember what triggered the outbreak of that war?" he asked, extending his hand to Ed as if he were a teacher asking a child a question.

Ed's brows knitted together. "A military officer accidentally shot an Ishvalan child…."

"Exactly!" The Homunculus's expression became horrid, demonic. _"I, Envy, was the one who shot and killed that child!" _

He continued to grin at the memories of slaughter. "With a single bullet, I watched as the carnage of war rippled outward until it consumed the entire country. It was beautiful! Humans are so easy to manipulate. It was very amusing!" He laughed. "I even disguised myself as an officer who was against the occupation! He faced a military tribunal for what _I_ did!"

As Envy cackled, Delilah stared, frozen with fear.

Edward stepped off the platform into the sea of blood. "So it was you," he said, stalking toward Envy. "You're the one who shot and killed that innocent child. You caused the civil war. You left the east in ruins—my _hometown_. You turned the Ishvalans into refugees. You caused a killer like Scar to be born. The…the war that took the lives of Winry's parents…!" He pulled his arm back when he reached the Homunculus. _"You're to blame!"_

Ed punched Envy in the jaw.

Envy didn't budge.

The Homunculus's eyes narrowed. "You wanna fight?" Ed backed up as Envy stood; red light flashed from Envy's body. "We're all going to die here anyway, so I might as well show you something interesting."

Delilah felt a hand firmly grip her shoulder. "Get up," Ling said. "You're prob'ly gonna need to run. Make a weapon; I'll see if Ed can get you the gun."

Delilah looked at Ling, but he was focused on Envy. She turned back to the Homunculus and saw that the creature's body was rapidly growing; his hands expanded, his body elongated—becoming green and four-legged—and a long, thick tail erupted into being. Envy's head grew to resemble a disgusting mix of a human's and a dog's, ten sizes too big, and greasy black hair fell from his head and neck. His skin twitched and trembled, and it took Delilah a moment to see that the heads and torsos of people protruded from him.

She screamed.

Envy slashed his tail into the blood, creating a large wave. _"Don't look at me!"_ he snapped, his voice slow and distorted. He swiped toward Edward, but the alchemist managed to jump out of the way in time and scramble onto the platform again.

"Ed—the gun!" Ling said.

Ed nodded after a slight hesitation and rather roughly pulled Delilah to her feet before putting the gun into her hands. "I'm so sorry," he said, anguished.

There was no time to respond. Envy lashed out with his foreleg; Delilah only managed not to get hit because Ling pulled her out of the way. Ed tried to dart away from the attack, but he was sent flying.

"Stay as far away from him as you can," Ling said, dragging Delilah off the platform. "Don't worry about us. Just be careful when you shoot."

_Shoot._

Delilah nearly dropped the gun. She'd never touched one in her life, much less aimed one at something. She remembered how Hawkeye, at ease, had held her rifle with absolute calm and certainty even though it was a loaded weapon designed to kill. Hawkeye was a soldier, trained to handle arms. Delilah was a girl who couldn't even stand herself.

Ling let go of her and yelled to Ed, who soon tossed over a newly-transmuted sword through the semidarkness. Ling deftly caught the weapon, and together the boys charged Envy, somehow able to dodge the creature's attacks even though they were bogged down by the blood. Delilah lost sight of them; she was too focused on the writhing masses on Envy's skin, of his fatal, thrashing limbs.

He had _people _in his skin.

Her hands shook. She never wanted to hurt another person again. She couldn't live with herself if someone died by her hands.

"Don't be fooled, Ed!" Ling yelled, his voice cutting through the groans and laments of Envy's skin. "He's a monster!"

A monster. She could remember what Envy had said to her just that morning. About how he would kill her.

Delilah raised the gun. She didn't want to die.

A loud _crack _rang out when she pulled the trigger. She wasn't prepared for the recoil; the shock caused her to drop the gun into the blood.

Envy let out a screech, but Delilah wasn't sure she'd hit her mark until the Homunculus started running toward her. She shrieked and tried to scramble out of the way, but his taloned hand struck her and pinned her to the ground. Something hard and bulky dug into the small of her back, and she cried out in pain.

"Guess I'm gonna kill you sooner rather than later…." Envy's giant mouth moved unnaturally as he spoke down to her in his distorted voice. His fingers, which had curled around her torso and one of her arms, squeezed her, and she whimpered.

"Del!" Ed screamed. He tried to rush Envy, but was swept away by the creature's thick tail.

Delilah stared up at Envy, into his violet, mutated eyes. _I'm going to die._

Terror seized her limbs. She didn't want to die. She didn't think in that moment about whether she deserved to die or not—she just didn't want it. She shook at the mere idea. She thought of her mistake with her mother, of how she had never found Marcoh, of Alphonse waiting for her and Ed—

Alphonse.

At that moment, pure luck was on her side: Ling slashed at Envy, distracting the Homunculus.

She twisted her free arm, reaching as best as she could underneath her body until her hand rested upon Alphonse's. She concentrated, activating the circle stitched into her glove, and pulled out the transmuted knife before plunging it into Envy's hand.

Envy screeched—and she was screeching too, for different reasons, and he pulled his hand away, giving Delilah more than enough room to roll aside and scramble to her feet. Her knee brushed against something in the process, and she picked up the object to discover that it was the gun. She held it in both hands and pointed it at Envy's head before pulling the trigger.

Nothing happened.

She squeezed the trigger once more, but the weapon didn't fire.

Envy dislodged the knife from his hand and dropped it into the bloody sea. He growled deep in his throat.

She started running away before he had the chance to fully turn to her; she heard Ed and Ling yell at the Homunculus, trying to distract him from coming after her. She kept running until she came back to the platform; she hurried around it and ducked behind a slab of rock.

She took the time to catch her breath and inspect her body for wounds, a difficult task since she was already plastered with blood. Her skin stung in a few places, indicating cuts where Envy's talons had begun to pierce her skin, and her body ached; she knew that a huge bruise would blossom on her back at some point, possibly in the shape of Al's hand and wrist.

She somehow smiled. _You help me even when you're not here._

She was alive. Still in danger, but alive.

The sounds of fighting reached her ears, and she peeked around the stone slab to see that the battle had come closer to the platform. She cringed at the sight of Envy smacking Ed, causing the alchemist to land like an abandoned toy onto the platform. Delilah almost ran over to him, but she shrank back when she saw Envy come over to tower over Ed. A chuckle escaped from the Homunculus; he opened his mouth, letting a tangled tongue of people lower down around Edward to grab and lift the alchemist back into Envy's mouth. Ed made no move to stop what was happening.

Delilah, frozen, watched as Envy snapped his jaws shut, trapping Ed inside his mouth.

Her eyes widened. "…Edward…"

Envy's lips formed into a grin.

She sank to her knees.

If this wasn't Hell, then she didn't want to go to the actual place.

_You said Alphonse was waiting for us. How…how can we get back to him if you're—?_

A loud _snap _interrupted her thoughts; she looked to see a metal leg sticking out of Envy's mouth, in the place where a tooth should've been.

"Let me out, Envy!" Ed snapped, voice muffled. "Your breath stinks! But listen! I think I found a way outta this place! I need your help!"

Envy froze.

"Let me out, dammit! I can get us out! You don't wanna die here, do you?"

Envy narrowed his eyes, then spit Edward out onto the platform. "You'd better be fucking telling the truth, midget."

Ed twitched violently but managed to hold himself back from launching himself at Envy. "Don't worry." He sat up, then pointed in Delilah's direction; it took her a moment to realize he wasn't pointing at her directly. "That stone slab—are there any more around here? I'd like you to go get them if there are."

Envy growled.

"It's from the Xerxes ruins, isn't it, Envy? It's here to hide the evidence of what you did there."

"So what if it is?"

"Go find the rest and bring them here, or I won't take us back."

"How do I know you won't run away while I'm looking?"

"Does it look like we can run away right now?" Ling asked, limping heavily through the blood up onto the platform. He sat down beside Ed while holding his side.

"Where is _she_, then?" Envy asked. "None of you are running off."

Delilah hesitated, then came out from behind the stone slab. She didn't come any farther.

Envy narrowed his eyes, then looked to Ed. "You'd better not be shitting me, alchemist." He turned and padded away through the sea, moving his head in wide arcs to look for the other pieces of stone.

Ed turned to look at Delilah. "Hey, Del—you okay?"

She nodded and slowly came over to them. She held the gun out to Ed.

He frowned sadly and took it. "Sorry."

She only nodded. She didn't like remembering the feeling of the gun in her hands as it recoiled. It had been too jarring, too real.

"Are you hurt?" she asked. Her voice cracked a little; her throat was sore from her screams. She needed water.

"Actually, yeah." Ed winced a little as he extended his flesh arm to her. "Forearm's broken."

Adrenaline was still in her veins, so Delilah felt shaky. "I-I guess we'll have to put a splint on that—I can't heal below the skin."

Unfortunately, as it turned out, most of their collective wounds weren't cuts or bruises; both of the boys had broken ribs, though Ed was the only one with a broken limb. Delilah did her best to help them, and then Ed made her tend to her own wounds, as minor as hers were compared to theirs. While they did this, Envy came back every once in a while to deposit another stone piece onto the platform; Delilah visibly became rigid and uncomfortable whenever he was around.

At one point, Ed put a hand on Delilah's shoulder. "We won't let him touch you, Del."

His words helped, but not that much.

()()()()()

"These are all the fragments in the area," Envy said after setting down the last of the stone slabs. Each one was inscribed with lines and symbols; it was easy to tell that it was part of a transmutation circle, but Delilah had never seen one like this before.

"Are these all from Xerxes?" Ling asked, using the light of his torch to peer at the stone.

"Yeah," Ed answered. "They're from a large mural in the shrine. I saw it when I was at the ruins." Ed turned back to the stones and peered at them in deep contemplation.

Ling nudged Delilah. "D'you know anything about this stuff?"

She shook her head. "I've seen the sun and moon in alchemy books before, but I've never used them in circles."

"Hey, Ed! You gonna tell us what's on your mind, there?" Ling said loudly.

Ed glanced back at them. "The mural that these fragments are from is a summoning circle for human transmutation."

Delilah felt cold. "Human transmutation…?"

Ed nodded. "It gave me an idea: what if I transmute a living human being?"

The cold feeling spread along Delilah's spine.

"It's impossible to transmute someone who's already dead," Ed continued. "You'll just be forced to pay the toll, and in the end, the person you transmuted won't even be in the shape of a human being. But if the one who is transmuted isn't dead… What if I transmute myself, just rearranging my atoms for a split second or just using the logic of water to water and iron to iron? The Portal will open, and you guys can jump in. That should theoretically get us out of this fake Portal, Gluttony's stomach."

"Let me do it!"

Ed froze. His golden eyes flicked to Delilah.

The girl felt nervous under his stare, but… "W-what if it takes your other limbs again, even if we can get through? How will you be able to help Alphonse then?"

Ed suddenly whirled around and grabbed Delilah by the arm with his automail hand; the blunt metal dug painfully into her skin. "Do you want _this_ to happen to you?!" he snapped, shaking her. "You promised me and Al that you'd never do it! You promised, remember?! You could _die _if something goes wrong! Do you think I want that? Do you think _Al _wants that?!"

She remembered the promise, and the mention of Alphonse caused guilt to strike at her heart, but terror kept her from answering. At that moment she feared that Edward could hurt her, and she also feared both performing and not performing the transmutation.

"Ed, calm down!" Ling reached out and grabbed Ed's shoulder. Ed stopped shaking Delilah, but didn't let go of her arm.

His eyes widened, then narrowed. "This is about your parents, isn't it? You think you can change yourself."

She didn't answer.

Envy suddenly laughed; the sound chilled them all to the bone. "Ah yes—Miss Incest."

Ed looked to the Homunculus. "I told you to shut up about that!" he snapped before turning back. "Del," he said, lowering his voice, "you can't do this. It's stupid. If you try to…I don't know, rearrange yourself to try to change your body—you could kill yourself. That's not going to help anything."

She was so afraid of dying; being in this place had proved that much to her—being human in the first place proved that much to her. _But still…It would be easier, wouldn't it…?_ She was too afraid to voice the thought.

"Surely it's better to die trying, though," Envy said. "What kind of normal life can you have with your filthy blood? Unless you want bastard kids."

She flinched.

Ed whirled around. "Just _shut up _already!"

Envy ignored the command. "But it would also be better for you if she were the one to perform the transmutation, especially if there were a rebound. She said so herself—how could you help your brother if you lose _another _limb?"

Ed scowled. "No." He sighed and ran a hand through his bloody bangs. "Keep an eye on her for me, will you?" he asked Ling. The Xingese prince nodded and stood beside Delilah, who kept her eyes trailed to the floor.

"Envy." Ed looked to the Homunculus. "I need to ask you something before we go." He took a few minutes to draw a crude transmutation circle on the floor with a bloody rag. "The mural I saw in Xerxes looked more or less like this. The symbol for God that's written above the twin dragons is upside down—in other words, 'bringing God down to earth and making Him one's own.'" He then pointed to another symbol. "These are the intertwining male and female dragons—the hermaphrodite, the alchemic symbol for a complete life form."

"This seems like a pretty arrogant concept," Ling said.

"It's not a big deal if we're just talking about it," Ed said. He looked to one of the stone slabs. "That shows—with the missing pieces in Xerxes—the sun being swallowed by the lion. It symbolizes the Philosopher's Stone. And the Stone is made of living human beings, right, Envy?"

The Homunculus smiled with crude, green lips. "That's right. It's a high-energy substance that's created by extracting souls from human bodies and condensing it. The spirit and body are byproducts."

Ed closed his eyes. "When I went to Xerxes, I couldn't believe that a country with such technology could be destroyed in a single night. And there's no legend that says they emigrated, either." Ed glared at Envy. "You guys turned the entire population of Xerxes into a Philosopher's Stone, didn't you?! Who made your body, Envy?! Who was it that wanted to surpass even God?! What is your 'father'? And…that person is using you to recreate the destruction of Xerxes in Amestris, isn't he?"

Envy grinned. "You get us outta here, and I'll tell you. Now, stop beating around the bush, Fullmetal Alchemist. _This _is what you really want, isn't it?"

Envy opened his mouth, revealing his tongue; a bright red light shone among the tangled mess of limbs and torsos and heads.

Delilah's eyes widened.

_"Do you think a Philosopher's Stone could help?" _

There it was. An answer to her problems. An answer to everything, right on Envy's tongue. And she'd never be able to even touch it.

"Like you said," the Homunculus went on, "you need to pay the toll if you want to go through the Portal. Unless you want the girl to use this instead of you."

Ed scowled, but chose not to answer the second comment. He stared at the writhing masses on Envy's skin. "These are all people of Xerxes, aren't they?"

"Why do you hesitate?" Envy asked. "I heard you fought Greed. Surely by now you know he was only able to regenerate with the Stone's energy." The Homunculus shifted, and part of his face was cast into shadow. The people in his skin looked menacing in the firelight as they crawled and twisted in agony. "I don't need your pity. Right now, your brother only exists as a soul, right? The only reason you want to think of these things as human is because you want to believe your brother still retains his humanity." He scoffed. "What a childish notion. It disgusts me to be pitied by a lower life form like you."

Anger suddenly flared inside Delilah. She wanted to yell that _of course _Alphonse was human, _of course _he was better than Envy—but she was afraid of the Homunculus, and said nothing.

Ed was silent for a moment. "So these people have no bodies anymore?"

"They lost their bodies and souls long ago in Xerxes," Envy said. "They can never return to their bodies. They can't even remember what they looked like. All that's left for them now is to be absorbed as energy. You must think about this scientifically, alchemist. These souls can never go back to being human."

Ed didn't reply. Instead, he clapped his hands and put them to the ground, clearing off the blood that he'd painted onto the stone. "Get back," he said, and the others did just that as he clapped his hands again. This time, lines became engraved into the stone; several circles, as well as pentagons and various symbols along the lines.

"Ling," Ed said once he had finished, "if anything happens to me, get Del back to Al, and warn everyone about what these guys're planning to do."

Ling made a face. "It's not like Amestris is _my _country! I don't care what happens!"

Ed twitched. "Xingese bastard…"

"There are people you care about waiting for you, right?" Ling said, serious now. "Then get out of this place, no matter what, and tell them yourself."

Ed didn't answer Ling. Instead, he walked over to Delilah and lowered his voice so Envy couldn't hear.

"When we get outta here, get straight to Al, with or without me. You need to tell him everything and get this all sorted out."

She hesitated. "…I-I know I should, but…"

Ed smiled helplessly and patted her hair with his automail hand. "Just trust me on this one. It'll all work out. Also, just a warning—if you try anything while I'm doing the transmutation, I'm gonna sock you into next week like when Paninya stole my watch."

He grinned, but she knew he was serious. She somehow managed to smile back, just a little. "I won't."

"Good." He paused. "I'm sorry about earlier," he said quietly. "But I meant what I said."

She nodded. "It's okay."

He smiled once more, but his expression became stoic as he walked to the center of the transmutation circle. He looked to the people crawling in Envy's skin and whispered something that Delilah didn't catch. Then he lifted both of his arms—which looked painful, since his flesh one was still broken—and took a deep breath.

Then he clapped his hands together and put them against the ground.

Light burst up from the floor, and wind swept upward. Delilah was unprepared and had to brace herself against the onslaught by widening her stance and throwing an arm in front of her eyes. When her vision adjusted to the bright light, she peered toward where Ed stood.

Next to him, a giant, grey eye was rising out of the floor, accompanied by countless wisps of black hands that searched for everything and anything to touch, to grab and pull away into nothingness.

_This _was what Ed and Al had seen when they'd tried to bring their mother back to life?

"Ling, Del! Jump in!"

Delilah froze. He couldn't be serious.

Ling also tensed. "I'm trusting you, alchemist!" He turned to Delilah and extended his hand. "Shall we?"

She hesitated, took his hand, and together they stepped into the circle.

* * *

_a/n: Been almost two weeks! Whoops. I blame my lack of production on the release of the new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (fun game, but not nearly as good in storyline as Explorers of Sky, nothing can beat that). It was addicting for a whole week. It was great all the way up until the postgame and you coming back to the Pokemon world wasn't cry-worthy at all. Hydreigon's pretty badass in that game, though._

_ANYWAY ENOUGH OF THAT TANGENT_

_I've recently been crying over the song "Ever the Same" by Rob Thomas because it's AlxDel don't tell me it's not because IT IS anyway this is another tangent_

_I hope Ed's anger was in character ;; But yes, next chapter we finally get out of Gluttony's stomach and jfk;lasjlfkj I'm sorry I'm just fangirling over what I'm planning. I hope you guys like it. Anyway, I've only read through this chapter once, so there's bound to be typos ;;_

_Please review on your way out~ Have a good day!_


	31. Chapter 31

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. Don't profit from this. Only own the OCs. Yup._

* * *

Thirty-One

The sensation of being decomposed was almost indescribable. Delilah could feel her limbs crumbling away like dirt, and though it felt uncomfortable, it didn't feel painful. She saw squares of herself floating away into a void, and she watched, fascinated and afraid, until her consciousness eroded as well.

()()()()()

She had no idea how long it took for her to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly; her body ached, and she wanted to sleep more than anything (although a drink and something to eat wouldn't be unwelcome), but something didn't feel right.

She felt hot, and the moist air pressed against her. She could hardly see anything. She could hardly move.

She shifted, and whatever slimy thing she lay against _moaned._

She froze, eyes widening. She searched through the dim light for whatever was near her—and she realized that there was a reason why it was so hot, so moist, so dark. She had been buried among the people in Envy's skin.

She screamed and flailed her limbs as best as she could, trying to get away from the Homunculus's _attachments. _Her struggles only added to the weight pressing against her.

"Delilah! Delilah!" someone called, and light shone on her as whoever it was worked to dig her out. A large hand reached through the tangle of bodies, and she grabbed it, allowing it to pull her out and into the harsh-but-dim artificial light of some huge room.

But she couldn't care less about where they were.

"Alphonse!" She threw her arms around his bulky frame, ignoring how the steel poked at her sore skin.

"Delilah!" He wrapped his arms around her, but he only had one hand to really hold her with. "I'm so happy you're alive! You and Brother—" He pulled someone else into the embrace, and Ed started swearing about how Al's spikes were poking him. Tears streamed down Delilah's face, but she started to laugh, too.

"What, I don't get a hug, too?" she heard Ling mutter from somewhere nearby, and she laughed more.

They were all alive, all together again; the relief made her lightheaded and giddy.

"You two are covered in blood! Are you okay?"

Ed managed to move away from Al enough so that he wasn't being squished anymore. "It's not ours."

Delilah pulled back as well, far enough to see Al's red eyes. "I missed you, Alphonse. I didn't know if we'd ever see you again."

His eyes fell, and he slouched. "I…I…didn't know, either…."

Her heart broke at the sight, at the sound of his voice. "I'm sorry," she said, hugging his arm.

Ed put his hand on Al's head. "I'm sorry, too. It…had to have been painful and scary."

"It's…it's okay," Al said. He put more strength into his voice. "It's not your fault."

Ed diverted his attention to the room, voicing his confusion about where they were, but Delilah didn't listen. She focused on Alphonse instead. His body was as cold as ever, but she found it impossible to describe the warmth in her chest when she was with him. Her hand traveled down, searching for his, but she only found the clean, smooth cut where Gluttony had swallowed it.

"I missed you so much," she whispered.

He caught the words and looked at her, but before either could say anything, Edward scrambled to his feet. _"Hohenheim?!"_

Delilah finally noticed their surroundings: a large, dim room with metal cables leading both up the walls and around the floor. Envy's bulk only took up a fraction of the space along the side, and Gluttony sat nearby, inspecting his stomach area—Delilah realized that that may have been where they'd come back through the Portal.

But then she saw the man whom Ed had referred to by his father's name: he was broad and imposing, wearing white robes. His hair and eyes bore a resemblance to Ed's—the colors nearly matched.

The man didn't pay any mind to the name. He studied Ed and Al, but hardly looked at Delilah. "This is a surprise, people coming out of his stomach… Steel limbs and a steel body…?"

He suddenly leaned in toward them, causing the trio to flinch. "You wouldn't happen to be the Elric brothers?!"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "You're not…him?"

Delilah drew back from her hold on Al's arm as she and the boy stood. She remembered the name Hohenheim, but she'd never met the man. She recalled being in the Rockbell kitchen and seeing the Elric family photo, but she hadn't seen the face of Ed and Al's father. Did this man really look like him?

The man thought for a moment, then leaned toward them again. "Are you talking about _Van Hohenheim? _How do you know him?"

"Well," Al said, "he's our father."

The man frowned.

Then he grabbed Ed's face. "Father?!" He started laughing as he patted Ed's head. "I never knew he had children! But why would your family name be 'Elric'?"

Ed pushed away the man's hands. "That's our _mother's _name! Our parents never got married!"

The man stroked his beard. "Ah, I didn't realize… So, where is he now?"

"How would I know?! We're not even on the same family register!"

The man turned away slightly and started muttering inaudibly, ignoring Ed's words. The action did nothing to help Ed's temper.

"LISTEN TO ME!"

"Hm?" He turned back to them. "Are you injured? And your brother has no left hand." He said nothing about Ling's or Delilah's states.

"Ah, Alphonse!" Delilah said, her concern about the strange man forgotten for a moment. "I transmuted your hand and then lost it in Gluttony's stomach. I…I'm sorry."

Al reeled back slightly. "Brother, can you fix—"

The man put his hand on the stump of Al's forearm. Light flashed from the area, and when the man pulled away, Alphonse was left with a new hand.

Before that had sunk into their minds, the man grabbed Ed's flesh arm. "Broken…," he muttered, and another alchemical light appeared. Ed pulled his arm away and inspected it.

"It's…healed…"

The man tipped his head, then started patting Ed's body. "More injuries…? Ah, your ribs." He touched Ed's side, pulling away when the boy's ribs healed. "How's that?"

The brothers were too stunned to answer. Delilah was as well; she couldn't wrap her mind around what had just happened. The man had no visible transmutation circles on his skin, nor had he clapped his hands like Ed and Izumi did to transmute. Not only that, but he had seemingly ignored equivalent exchange when he transmuted Al's hand, and his healing alchemy surpassed Marcoh's even with a—

"Philosopher's Stone," she whispered, unheard.

"You two are vital assets," the man continued. "Keep yourselves in top condition. Do you have any other injuries?"

Al looked to Delilah. "Are you hurt?"

Her body felt sore, but she had healed all her cuts back in Gluttony's stomach. She shook her head. Besides, she didn't want the man to touch her.

The bearded man scrutinized her, as if just realizing she existed. "You are…the potential? Marcoh's?"

Delilah looked up to the man, and Al asked, "You know where Dr. Marcoh is?"

He ignored the question. "Envy," he said, turning to the green, monstrous Homunculus. "How do you gauge the potential?"

Envy scoffed and lashed his tail. "Her being Marcoh's assistant doesn't make her anything, like I thought all along. Miss Incest is a waste."

Delilah gasped and grabbed at her sides as if Envy had physically punched her in the abdomen. Her stomach felt like ice, but her veins felt like an inferno; she wanted to crumble into ash under the weight of Alphonse's confused stare.

The man didn't seem pleased or displeased by Envy's judgment. "Gluttony, feel free to eat her."

The fat Homunculus leapt to his feet with surprising agility. Before he could take a step toward them, Alphonse moved in front of Delilah and Ed started shouting at the man.

"No! You can't! She's our friend!"

The man's expression remained passive. "But she is of no use to me."

"At least let _me _kill her before Gluttony eats her!" Envy said. "I've wanted to slit her throat since I met her. I want her to see her filthy blood before she dies."

Delilah remained frozen with fear. Her breaths came in shallow pants. Killed by Envy or eaten by Gluttony, or both—she feared each option.

Alphonse held her against is side, as if he was worried Envy would snatch her from behind. "Please don't!" he begged the man. "Please just let us go. We won't bother you again, I promise."

"He isn't going to do that, Al!" Ling said. His voice shook along with his body as he pointed the tip of his sword at the man. "You aren't even human, are you? Who the hell are you? What's going on?"

The man regarded Ling as if he was just another nuisance. "You may eat him too, Gluttony."

The Homunculus grinned; drool dropped from his rotund jaw. "Dinner _and_ dessert!"

"No! Not him, either!" Ed snapped.

"But these two are useless to me," the man said. "I couldn't care less if they're your friends or not. All that matters is how useful you are to me."

"Why you—"

Al let go of Delilah with one hand and reached toward his brother. "Wait!" He lowered his voice. "The Homunculi call him 'Father.' He must be the one who created them."

Ed's hair antenna twitched. "Then he must be the _super-villain."_

"It seems so." Al glanced to Delilah, who still stood rigid with terror. "…I think it would be better to get out of here as fast as possible."

"I don't like the look in your eyes," Ling said to Father before Ed could reply. "Or your attitude. You're definitely the boss of the Homunculi. They mock us humans and call us 'fools.' You have that same look in your eyes."

"'Fools'?" Father repeated. "I would never call you that. Do you look at the insects on the ground and consider them fools? Insects are so beneath you that you don't care one way or another about them. _That _is exactly how I feel about you humans."

No one spoke for a moment.

Then Ed clapped his hands and slapped them to the floor, causing the cement to shoot toward Father. The man's expression remained stoic; he made no move as he transmuted the ground to block Ed's attack.

"I don't like you, old man!" Ed said. "Whatever you are, you're the root of all this evil! I'm gonna finish you off so we can get outta here!"

As Ling started arguing with Ed about the alchemist's tactics, Al leaned closer to Delilah. "Envy's the fastest, so I need you to help me transmute the ground around his feet—then we'll run. Can you do that?"

Delilah broke out of her stupor. "I…think so."

He nodded. "Okay. As soon as Brother—"

"Who're you calling a _crony, _little boy?!"

Envy leapt toward them. Despite what she had told Alphonse, she didn't move, not to transmute and not to run.

Alphonse's and Edward's transmutations caused Envy to stop short, and while Ed went after Father, Alphonse caused the ground to form around Envy's eight feet. The armor boy then spun around and scooped Delilah up into his arms. She yelped in surprise and clung to him, trying to keep her body from banging painfully against his chest plate as he ran.

"It's okay," Al said. "I'll get you out of here. Don't worry."

She opened her mouth but didn't answer.

"Oh no, you don't!" Envy called, and the ground shook as he used his brute strength to rip his feet free from the concrete. The Homunculus caught up to them within seconds and used a talon to knock Alphonse's feet out from underneath him. The boy fell onto his back, and Delilah's head smacked against his chest.

The world spun—she couldn't focus. Al clapped his hands and shot pillars of earth up toward Envy, distracting the Homunculus long enough for him to stand and rush the other way with Delilah still clutched close to him.

He stopped short when Father took a single step forward.

Wind rushed through the room, originating from where the man stood, and all fighting ceased. No one moved. The wind died down. Edward clapped his hands and slapped them onto the ground.

Nothing happened.

He did it again.

"It's not working." He looked back to Al, his gold eyes wide. "My alchemy isn't working!"

"Wha—?"

Envy slammed his hands onto the backs of both brothers, pushing them to the ground. In that split second, Alphonse tried to push Delilah away from him, but he wasn't fast enough. He fell onto her.

One of his shoulder spikes pierced her chest.

Red liquid began to spurt up from the wound, wetting the dress that had already been bloodied. The sharp point dug deep into her muscles, against her ribs—she could feel it, and it hurt, it hurt so much—

"Delilah…?" Al's eyes widened. "Delilah? Delilah!" He pushed his hands against the ground, trying to push against Envy's hand. _"Delilah!" _

Envy grinned. "Oh? Is Miss Incest dying?" He lowered his head to watch.

_"Don't call her that!" _Ed snapped, banging his automail fist against Envy's hand, but the Homunculus didn't react. "Del!"

She couldn't speak. She gasped for breath, and blood bubbled from her lips. She struggled to move her hand up to her chest. She tried to transmute, but nothing happened.

Delilah turned her wide eyes up to Alphonse.

"No…" He shook. "No! _NO!" _He looked to the robed man. "You have to help her! _Please!"_

Father frowned. "But she is of no use to me."

"Then _make _her useful!" Alphonse pleaded.

"Al!" Ed started struggling even more. "Think about what you're saying!"

Al ignored his brother. "Please! Please! She's dying!"

Envy laughed and pressed his foot even harder into Al's back; the boy's spike pushed into Delilah's chest once again. "This is _perfect_. Unable to do anything while she dies right beneath you, because of you. And her, spilling her filthy blood everywhere while she dies…"

Alphonse shook his head. "_No! _You have to _do _something! _Please!"_

"She has too frail a body to be useful. But him…" Father turned away and walked over to where Gluttony held down Ling. "You have guts and endurance, boy," he said to the prince. "You'd make a good pawn. And it just so happens…"

Father touched his own forehead, and the skin drew back to reveal an eye. Red liquid oozed from the opening and fell into his palm. "…that Greed's position is available."

"A Philosopher's Stone…" Al whispered. He redoubled his efforts to push against Envy's hand. "Please! _Please_!"

"Oh, shut your trap," Envy growled. "Be quiet and watch. Father's about to make a human-based Homunculus. You should feel privileged."

"Homunculus…?" Ed said. "You mean he's going to put the Stone in Ling's body?!"

Envy grinned. "He'll probably die. But if he lives, the Stone's energy will have healed his body. But he'll be Greed, through and through."

"No! Ling!" Ed thrashed and clapped his hands, but to no avail. "Dammit! _Dammit! _There's someone _waiting _for him! And Del needs to find Marcoh and—! _DAMM—"_

_ "Stop, Ed!" _Ling snapped. He pointed at Ed, coughing up blood as he did so. "This is what I want. _Stay out of this! _Don't interfere, no matter what!"

Father raised an eyebrow. "You desire my avarice? Interesting. Gluttony, break his skin."

The Homunculus grabbed Ling's head and bashed his cheek against the ground. Blood spurted from the new wound.

Father dropped the Philosopher's Stone onto Ling's face.

Immediately, the prince began to convulse, his body twisting unnaturally as the immense energy coursed through his body. Red light flashed from his skin.

"Ling!" Ed writhed underneath Envy's hand. "LING!"

"No…," Alphonse said. His body shook. "Not again, no—everyone's…!" He looked down at Delilah. She had closed her eyes. Her face was pale, her breathing shallow.

"…I'm sorry," he whispered.

She opened her blue eyes partway. "I-I…I'm scared…"

Something inside him broke. "I'm so sorry. I'm s-so…"

"…sorry," she said. She closed her eyes again. "…sorry…"

"Don't be," he said. "P-please don't be. The l-last thing I did was argue with you, and… I'm so sorry!"

She didn't respond.

Ling stopped shuddering, and the alchemical light faded. He sat forward, coughing slightly, then stood. He ran a hand through his black bangs, then rubbed his neck.

"Ling…?" Ed called.

"Hm? Oh, you're talking about the owner of this body. Sorry, but…" The Homunculus raised his left hand, emblazoned with an Ouroboros tattoo. "…this is Greed's body now."

"Forgive me if your new form disgusts me, Greed," Envy called. "At least that arrogant brat is gone."

Greed grinned. "You're not much of a looker yourself."

Envy trembled with rage.

"Congratulations, Greed!" Gluttony said, trotting over to the new Homunculus. "I'm Gluttony, and this is Envy!"

Greed nodded. "Makes—"

He broke off when a noise interrupted him. Everyone looked to the end of the room, where the double doors had been opened. A chimera stood in the threshold, but it fell over, blood spurting from its side. In its place stood a rugged Ishvalan and a young Xingese girl.

"Scar?!" Ed said in disbelief. "And that girl from before!"

Said girl caught sight of Father and shrunk against Scar's side.

"Who are you people?" Greed called. "We're a little busy right now."

Scar inspected the situation. "The Fullmetal Alchemist…?"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist?" The girl's mood made a complete turn. "Where is Mr. Edward?"

Scar pointed. "That little one."

The girl's expression fell. "That…little one…?" She almost burst into tears, but her attention diverted. "Mr. Scar! That girl…! She's bleeding!"

Alphonse pushed himself upward again. "Please help!"

"Shut up already." Envy growled and whipped his tail around to hit Al's side. The movement caused the spike to jerk around in Delilah's flesh. "It's not like they can even use alchemy to help you. She's going to die."

"Gluttony," Father said. "Is that the Ishvalan?"

"Yes, Father." The fat Homunculus turned gloomy. "I didn't get to eat him…."

"Go eat him now."

Gluttony brightened and rushed toward the duo, his mouth open and tongue flopping as he anticipated his next meal.

Scar struck him in the face, and alchemical force blew the Homunculus apart from the inside.

The girl threw a set of knives toward the ground where Envy stood, then threw another set at her feet. She put her hands to the floor, and cement shot upward, punching Envy in the stomach and lifting him off the ground. Startled, the Homunculus released Ed and Al.

Alphonse pulled away from Delilah and tried to staunch the bleeding with his hand as he picked her up. Ed hurried to his side and ushered him away from where Envy thrashed to get down from the cement pillars. The alchemist clapped his hands and put them on the floor, but yet again, nothing happened.

"How can you use your alchemy here?" Envy asked Scar and the girl, managing to get back onto the floor.

"Scar!" Ed called. "You wanna hear the truth about what started the war in Ishval? It was Envy, right there! He disguised himself as a soldier and shot that innocent child! It was these bastards that caused the war! They _wanted _it to happen!"

Scar froze. Then he trembled.

Ed turned to Al. "As soon as there's an opening, get Del out of here," he whispered. "Don't worry about me. They don't seem to want to kill us."

Al nodded to his brother before he turned back to Delilah. Blood dripped from her unconscious body onto the floor.

"It seems you have much to answer for," Scar said, walking toward Envy. "Tell me: why did my people have to be slain? Depending on your answer, I'll either send you to be with God or—"

A reformed Gluttony rose up behind Scar, but the Ishvalan whirled around and smashed his palm into the Homunculus's face, disintegrating the monster once more.

_"No." _Scar stood up straight and continued on toward Envy. "God's domain is where my people have gone." Alchemical light flashed form his hand. "For you, there will be only _oblivion!"_

He smacked his palm against the ground, and the whole floor ruptured.

Alphonse and Edward were sent tumbling in different directions. Delilah fell out of Al's arms, and he swore under his breath as he fell to the ground. He hurried to his feet just in time to see the Xingese girl rush toward Delilah.

"Be careful!" he called, rushing over, prepared to push the girl away from Delilah if need be.

"I can help her!"

Alphonse stared at her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

He glanced to Delilah. "Then do it, please."

The girl threw her knives into the floor and drew a circle and five-pointed star to connect them. Alphonse helped her move Delilah's torso into the circle, and then the Xingese girl performed the transmutation. Light shone from the circle and from Delilah's wound until the Xingese girl stopped her alchemy.

Alphonse pulled back the top of Delilah's dress just enough to see where the wound had been; a scar remained amidst the blood, but nothing more.

"Thank you." He hugged Delilah to his chest and looked at the Xingese girl. "Thank you so much."

She smiled a little at the sight, then nodded and spoke hurriedly. "You need to get her out of here." She looked back into the room. "I need to help Mr. Scar, but…I'll help you. Let's go."

Alphonse nodded and stood, holding Delilah close. The girl gathered her knives, and together they rushed toward the doors.

"LITTLE GIRL MEAT!"

Gluttony appeared from behind a slab of cement, his jaws wide in anticipation as he bounced toward them. The girl balked at the sight, but threw a knife into the center of the Homunculus's forehead, and the creature fell backward. The girl didn't bother collecting the knife.

"Quick," she said as they left the room. She turned right, following the route that Alphonse and Gluttony had used to get inside. They turned another corner, then stopped short.

Chimeras filled the hallway.

Alphonse could hear heavy footsteps from somewhere behind them, and with dread he realized that it must've been Envy. "We're surrounded."

He looked down at Delilah, wishing that she were well enough to run, but even if she were, he wouldn't be able to transmute. He felt so _useless_, so _awful _for having a part in her injury. Too many people had died, and if she did as well…

The sound of smaller, lighter footsteps came from behind them, and the two looked to see Scar, bruised and bleeding, hurry into the hallway. He stopped next to them. "More chimeras?"

The girl lifted her knives. "Not if I can help it." She threw them once more, and one by one, she shot alchemical power at the chimeras, killing them almost instantly.

"May," Scar said. He'd turned his back to them to watch the hallway entrance; Envy's footsteps grew louder with each second. "Get out of here and back to Yoki. I'll be staying here for a little while."

"What?!" She stopped her transmutation and turned to the Ishvalan. "But you—"

"Just get out of here, and quickly!" Scar snapped. He stuck his hand into the water beside the walkway, and gas suddenly filled the area. He ushered May and Alphonse forward past the dead chimeras just as Gluttony and Envy rushed into the hallway; as they passed a metal pipe, Scar used his alchemy to break it near where the Homunculi stood.

The gas exploded.

"This way!" May called to Alphonse above the noise, and they hurried down another passageway. Scar went in the other direction.

"Gluttony—ugh, FUCKING SHITS!" Envy screeched, and Alphonse could hear him rushing after them.

They took one more turn, and then they saw the small hallway that led to the stairs from which they had entered the tunnels. They hurried through, and from behind they heard Envy crash into the curved ceiling of the hallway; the Homunculus swore, and Al glanced back to see him begin to shift his body back into his humanoid form so he could fit.

"Hurry!" Alphonse said, and May pumped her legs even faster. She dashed up the stairs before Al, and when he emerged into the sunlight, the girl threw her knives around the entrance to the tunnels. She slammed her hands to her circle.

Brick and cement clashed together, forming a thick block in the entire threshold—and not a moment too soon.

Thuds came from the other side of the wall. _"You little shits!" _Envy shrieked. _"Fucking bastards! Have fun with Miss Incest, you metal piece of shit!"_

Human habit had made Alphonse pant even though he didn't have lungs, and human habit made him freeze at the nickname. He didn't understand, not Envy's words nor Delilah's reaction to them back in Father's room.

Delilah.

She was far more important right now than some stupid nickname that the Homunculus had decided to give her.

"Hey, are you okay?" He gently shook the girl, but she remained unconscious.

"She needs a doctor," May said between her pants.

Alphonse nodded. But then he took in Delilah's state, all drenched in dried blood and sweat, her dress torn in several places. Taking her to the hospital would raise questions, and he didn't know if he could answer any.

"Dr. Knox, of course," he muttered to himself, ignoring the thuds and muffled shouts that continued to come from the other side of the wall. "Could you help me, May?"

Alphonse set Delilah on the ground, and May helped the girl sit up. Alphonse undid the straps holding his chest plate closed, and May's mouth dropped.

"Y-you're hollow!"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Long story." He picked Delilah up and had May help him put her inside of him. "Does she look comfortable?"

May prodded the girl a little. "Now she does."

Alphonse closed his chest plate. At this time, the thuds coming from the wall ceased, and Envy called out one last "bastards!" before he couldn't be heard anymore.

"Thank you, May," Al said. "Thank you so much."

"Oh, it was nothing," she said modestly.

"No, it wasn't," he said as he stood. "If you ever need anything, just ask me. I owe you so much."

She smiled, and he nodded and began to turn around.

"U-um, Mr. Armor?"

He turned around again. "It's Alphonse Elric. What?"

"You…" She pointed a tiny finger at him. "You have blood on you."

He looked down and saw that blood had dripped down onto his chest and onto his loincloth. His hands were stained. The blood on his shoulder spike had dried.

"O-oh…"

"Um…" May took off her small sash, which seemed to serve as a backpack, and pulled out some water and a small rag. "I'll help you."

"N-no, you don't have to." He took the things from her and wet the rag before wiping himself off. He hated himself for wasting time like this when Delilah needed to get to a doctor, but if he walked into the street with blood all over him, nothing good would come of it.

He also hated how her blood had come from a wound he had given her.

"You don't want this back, right?" Al said, holding up the bloody rag.

She took it anyway. "I can clean it with alkahestry."

Alphonse nodded. "Thank you again," he said. As polite as he was, he found that he couldn't wait for her reply; he turned and hurried away, his thoughts centered solely upon Delilah.

_Please be okay…_

* * *

_a/n: So that chase scene was never meant to happen but now it's happened and I like it I like it a lot so yup let's keep it_

_also I pretty much cried during this chapter and I think you know why_

_Anyway, I'm sorry I took a couple weeks with this! I got slammed with so much work it's not even funny. And now it's April vacation, thank goodness, but tomorrow I have to go visit colleges and I don't want to drive four hours DX_

_I laughed my butt off at all the reviews I got for the last chapter. Pretty much all of you were at least entertained by the April Fool's joke. I think I might start pulling a LeFay Strent and put omakes in chapters because we really need to laugh in this story we really really need to laugh_

_speaking of which I'm going to write an omake right now yep right now_

**omake**

Ling stopped shuddering, and the alchemical light faded. He sat forward, coughing slightly, then stood. He ran a hand through his black bangs, then rubbed his neck.

"Ling…?" Ed called.

"Hm? Oh, you're talking about the owner of this body. Sorry, but…" The Homunculus loosened his shirt and jacket, revealing the Ouroboros tattoo on his chest. "…this is Lust's body now. You may call me Lustling if you prefer, though." He winked at Ed.

The alchemist's face blazed.

Lustling suddenly rushed toward Envy and smacked his hand away from Alphonse. "No! Bad dog! No killing one half of the OTP!"

"What the hell are you doing, Lust?" Envy snapped.

Lustling crossed his arms. "Lust is all about sexual desire. And I desire them to have sex when Al gets his body back."

Alphonse and Delilah looked at each other; he was still above her. They promptly scurried to opposite ends of the room.

Lustling suddenly pointed at Father. "If you all are only about killing my OTPs, then I'm afraid I'll have to leave you, Pops!"

Father stared at Lustling.

Lustling stared at Father.

"Go to your room."


	32. Chapter 32

_DISCLAIMER: FMA isn't mine. My OCs are. This fic is. I don't profit from it._

* * *

Thirty-Two

"This place isn't a goddamn hospital! I already have that Xing girl here, and now you bring me another one?! With a half-healed puncture wound, no less!"

_…alive…?…good…_

"But I couldn't take her to the hospital! Look at her! And they were trying to kill her—what if they'd found her in the hospital?"

_Alphonse…? …can't move…._

"You're lucky that alkahestrist was there, or else this girl would be dead."

There was no reply.

()()()()()

Despite his gruff words, Dr. Knox wasted no time in helping Delilah. He grumbled about how he wished he had blood for a transfusion ("She can live without it, but a transfusion is what she _needs_"), but quickly ordered Alphonse to bring the girl to a bed upstairs while he went to get fluids and an IV. The boy felt awful—Lan Fan needed the doctor's time and equipment, too—but hurried to do what he'd been told.

He laid Delilah on the bed, taking care to put her head on the pillow. Perhaps it was just him or the contrast of the blood against her skin and clothes, but she looked paler than before. He almost put his hand close to her nose to check if she was breathing, but remembered himself and watched her chest. Her torso rose and fell slowly, shallowly, and he sighed in relief.

"Alphonse!" He turned just in time to catch a damp towel that had been thrown at him from outside the room. "Clean off her arm and around the wound."

"On it!" he called before kneeling beside the bed. He grasped Delilah's arm and wiped the blood away, trying to be as gentle as he could. The blood had dried and caked itself to her skin; it was hard to get all of it off without passing the towel over her skin more than once.

He hadn't even finished when Knox came into the room, wheeling a stand beside the bed. He shooed Alphonse away from Delilah's arm and scrubbed at her inner elbow with rubbing alcohol before taking a needle and inserting the IV into her vein. He double-checked the IV and fluids before taking the towel from Alphonse and cleaning the area around Delilah's closed wound.

"Whose blood is this?" he asked.

"U-uh, some of it's hers," Al said. "She had lots on her before. I don't know where it came from."

Knox grumbled and grabbed another cloth, putting more rubbing alcohol on it and cleaning the area around the scar. "Don't look at me if it infects her."

The words struck fear into Al's heart. "She'll be okay though, right?"

"She should be if she gets plenty of rest and eats a lot of iron foods. But if that gets infected she might not be." Knox stood up straight and sighed. "You should've taken her to the hospital."

Alphonse didn't respond.

"I'll go make some food for when she wakes up," Knox said, walking out of the room. "When I go to work next I'll get some more fluids. Painkillers, too."

Alphonse didn't watch him leave. He knelt down beside the bed again and leaned against it. His hand found hers.

He felt stupid. He felt awful. Guilty.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "Please don't die."

()()()()()

Delilah felt groggy and lightheaded as she opened her eyes. She couldn't focus on where she was or much of anything else.

"You're alive…."

Her gaze stumbled across the bed to where a hand held hers. She followed the hand to its wrist, its arm, its face—

"Alphonse." Her voice cracked.

He let go of her hand to grab a pillow at the edge of the bed. He helped her to sit up and arranged the pillows so that she when she leaned against them she sat up. When he was done, he brought a cup to her lips. "Here. Take sips."

She obeyed; at first, the water did little to abate her dry throat, but after a few moments she didn't feel uncomfortable when swallowing.

He pulled the cup away; if she'd had the strength, she would've snatched it back. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

She nodded, struggling to stay awake. "…haven't eaten since Ed's boot."

"Brother's boot?" Al sounded confused. He grabbed a bowl from the nearby desk and held it out to her.

"It tasted awful," she muttered. She moved her arms, trying to take the bowl, but they gave out before she could even lift them. She frowned.

"Oh…" Al said. He spooned out soup from the bowl and put the metal in front of her lips. She closed her mouth around the spoon, too exhausted to care about being fed like a child.

"Tired," she said after she'd swallowed the first mouthful.

"I know," he said. "Just eat a little more and then you can sleep, I promise." He put another spoonful of soup to her lips. "Chew this, okay? Dr. Knox put meat in it for you."

She ate more of the soup, but only for a few moments. She closed her eyes when Al put another spoonful to her lips.

"Delilah? Can you stay awake a little longer?"

She opened her eyes just enough to look at Alphonse. "…No."

She fell asleep.

()()()()()

The next time Delilah woke up, her head felt clearer.

So clear, in fact, that when she noticed that Alphonse held her hand, her pale face reddened.

"Hey," Al said. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"Um, I'm hungry," she said, and Al let go of her hand to grab the bowl. She missed the pressure of his hand encasing hers. "Where are we?" she asked, trying to distract herself by looking around at the shabby bedroom. She noticed the IV in her arm and made a mental note to be careful not to touch it.

"Dr. Knox's; this is his son's old room," Al said. "Um…I don't really know where Brother is right now, but I'm sure he'll be by soon. And, uh, Dr. Knox and I cleaned you up a little bit. O-only around your wound and your arm."

He hurriedly stuck a spoonful of soup into her mouth. She chewed the cold meat carefully.

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked.

She swallowed and opened her mouth to answer when the memories came back to her. She grew rigid, recalling the man and Gluttony and Envy and Alphonse's spike digging into her flesh—

"Hey—hey, it's okay." Al held her shoulders, trying to keep her from shuddering.

"But…" She put her hands to her chest, searching for a gaping hole but only finding rough skin.

"Scar and a girl showed up while you were unconscious," Al said. "She—May—used alkahestry to close the wound. Then I took you here to Dr. Knox's—"

He broke off when she threw her weak arms around him.

"I thought—I thought…!" Sobs punctuated her words and tears streamed down her face, onto his steel body.

"…I know." He circled his arms around her small waist. "I'm sorry, Delilah. I'm so sorry."

They stayed that way for several minutes—she crying, and he wishing he could.

"I was so scared," she murmured.

"Me, too." His grip on her tightened. His voice became strained. "If you had died…like that, because of me, I…"

She shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, it was Envy. You would never do that."

"But it was still _my_ body," he said. "I hurt you like that and you could have died—"

"I don't blame you, Alphonse!"

He fell silent.

"I… It hurt, Alphonse," she said. She tensed at the painful memory. "But I would never blame you. You would never do something like that."

"But I would've done anything to keep you alive, Delilah," he whispered. "I…I asked that man to keep you alive no matter what, and if he'd done to you what he did to Ling…" He trailed off, pained.

"But I'm okay." She pulled away from him just enough to see his eyes. "I'm alive. It's okay."

Alphonse shook. "But…y-you didn't see…. They turned Ling into a Homunculus. His body's still him, but Ling's…gone. That could have happened to _you_."

"But it didn't, Alphonse!" Tears of frustration and pain leaked from her eyes. "None of this is your fault. Please stop thinking it is."

He didn't answer. Instead, he put his large hand against her small cheek and gently brushed away her tears with his thumb. She hated how cold and stiff his hand felt against her skin, and she knew he hated it too, how they couldn't really touch each other.

"I don't know what I would've done if you'd died," he whispered.

The words made her skin feel hot. "You would've kept moving forward with Edward," she said, slightly flustered. "I-if you didn't do that, I wouldn't be happy."

"I know," he said. He wiped away another of her stray tears. "But Delilah… I-I've decided that when I get my body back…one of the first things I want to do is hold your hand."

She stared at him.

"You're very…special to me, Delilah. I wish I could've told you earlier, before I yelled at you and before all of…this."

She didn't move, didn't speak.

He froze, then sprang away, nervous and embarrassed. He flailed his arms. "I-I mean… If you don't feel the same way, that's totally fine! Totally fine! You just went through a lot, too, after all and…s-stuff."

"…Alphonse."

"And I'm a suit of armor!" he went on, oblivious to her interjection. He started poking his fingers together. "Obviously it's going to be different for you compared to me. I'm a hunk of steel and huge and—"

"Alphonse!"

He broke off and looked at her. "…What?"

Delilah stared at him for a moment, then looked down at her lap.

_"Do you really think Al or I would be disgusted by you?"_

"You don't want to feel that way about me," she whispered.

Al shifted toward her. "What are you talking about?" He sounded both concerned and apprehensive.

She didn't want to tell him. So she procrastinated, just a little. "When we were in Gluttony's stomach, I thought I was in Hell. And I… I deserve to be."

"What?!" He came closer to her and took her hand. "Of course you don't! You're one of the kindest people I've ever met. Gentle, too, and—"

The words stabbed at her. "B-but I pushed her, Alphonse." Desperation filled her. "I pushed my own mother down the stairs!"

Alphonse reeled back. She pulled her hand away from his and hid her face, wiping at her tears. She didn't look at him. She was afraid of looking at him.

"…Why?" he asked finally.

It took her a few moments to compose herself enough to speak. "I-I didn't mean to…. S-she told me…she told me her brother raped her."

She dissolved into hysteria. She hated herself, hated what she was. Alphonse had told her that he cared for her, and now she knew he couldn't. Why would he ever want to hold her hand when her hand was so disgusting? When she'd done something horrible, when her blood was sludge and her body was sick—

"Delilah…"

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. She cried even harder. She pounded her fist weakly against him, trying to make him let go, but she gave up and clung to him. She didn't want him to touch her filthy body, but she wouldn't be able to stand it if he let go.

"Please stop crying," he begged. "I hate it when you cry."

Something about what he said made her laugh bitterly through her sobs. "I-I always cry."

The small moment passed, and Delilah continued to cry against Alphonse's chest. He rubbed her back and slowly rocked back and forth, trying to calm her. It took a long time for her to become quiet.

"This is what you wouldn't tell me?" he asked once her sobs had subsided.

She nodded.

"Why not?"

She didn't answer.

Alphonse pulled away to look at her. "Please tell me. You can tell me anything."

She looked at her lap. "…I don't think I could take it…if you hated me."

"Delilah." He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face so they eyes could meet. "I would never hate you. I _couldn't. _I mean…I'm not exactly happy about what you did, but I told you—I care about you. Not about how you were born."

"But what kind of life can I have with this body, Alphonse?" she demanded, trying to dig her fingers into his steel. "I can't stand it! E-Edward used human transmutation on himself to get us out of Gluttony's stomach, and I wanted to do it _too,_ to try to change myself or…or to _die_…! I-I keep thinking that it would be easier to die or to never have been born—"

"_No_!" Al's grip on her shoulders tightened, and he leaned down to meet her at eye level. "Don't ever think that way! Maybe you weren't born for the same reasons that Brother and I were, but you _were _born, and I'm happy you're here. I don't want you to not have been born. I don't want you to die. Maybe it's selfish and stupid of me to say this, but if anything had changed and you weren't here with me, I…I would hate it. I want to be with you. I don't care about your body. Don't you know I'd be the last person to care about that?"

"…I…I know," she said. "…I was scared. I _am _scared." Even with his words lifting her up, she still felt sunken in her own fear.

He clasped his huge hands around her small ones. "I'm here for you, okay? Don't worry by yourself. I'll always be here for you. Because it's lonely being an insomniac, isn't it?"

Delilah recognized the words as her own, and her face burned as she nodded. She wanted to wipe away her tears, but Alphonse still held her hands. She didn't want to pull away.

She still didn't feel completely consoled. Not with herself. She didn't know if she ever would be. But maybe it would happen, one day, if Alphonse was there to help her along. Ed, too, and Winry and everyone else.

"I went to the library yesterday to read about…it," she said. "Envy found me there and saw what I was reading."

The pressure on her hands increased. "That's why he called you that."

Her throat closed. She nodded.

"I won't let him call you that. I won't let him touch you. None of them will, I promise."

She smiled a little. "I know." She fell silent for a moment. "Alphonse?"

"Yeah?"

"…I want to find a way to help my mother. I need to fix that mistake. Will… Will you help me?"

She could _hear _the smile in his voice. "Of course. You don't even have to ask."

She smiled again and shook her head. "I can't believe it."

He rubbed his thumb across her hand. "Believe what?"

She didn't need to answer the question. She leaned her head against his chest. "Thank you." She closed her eyes. "Thank you so much."

She couldn't outright say that she returned his feelings, and she felt a little stupid for not being able to. But she didn't think she could tell him until she could tell herself that she wasn't disgusting or awful. And maybe that was the right thought. Alphonse deserved everything she could give him, and she couldn't do that if she constantly hated herself. She didn't deserve that, either.

It would happen one day. Not just yet, but someday.

"Anything else you want to talk about?" he asked. He'd put his hand on her blood-encrusted hair. His fingers were slowly rubbing her head.

She smiled. "I missed you."

"I did, too."

"Edward found your hand when we were in Gluttony's stomach. I carried it everywhere. Envy attacked us, and I used it to defend myself. Then I, um, lost it."

"That's fine. I wish you didn't have to fight like that."

"…Edward gave me a gun. I shot at Envy."

Alphonse stopped moving his hand. "A gun?"

"…Yes. So I could defend myself. I gave it back to him right after. I…I didn't like it."

He sighed. "I'm glad you didn't." He rubbed her head again. "I'm so glad you're okay."

She laughed, just a little. "Me, too." She stayed silent for a moment. Then: "…It's kinda funny."

"What is?"

"You have no body but you care so much about a girl that hates hers."

"Delilah…" He didn't sound impressed.

"I know…" She readjusted her grip on his hand. "I'm sorry, Alphonse. For everything I put you through."

"I don't blame you," he said, echoing her earlier words. "So don't be."

She understood, then, how guilty he felt even when she'd told him she was okay. "…Alphonse?"

"Yeah?"

"…Can you stay here? Until I fall asleep? I'm tired."

"Of course. You're not hungry or anything?"

"…A little. But I'm more tired."

"Okay. You can eat when you wake up again. And I'll talk to Dr. Knox and see if you can take a shower or something. You're kinda, uh…dirty."

A huge, sleepy smile spread across her face. "…didn't notice…"

He chuckled. "I think this is the easiest I've ever seen you fall asleep."

She didn't answer. She had already slipped into dreams.

()()()()()

Alphonse carefully laid Delilah back on the pillows and arranged the covers to cover as much of her body as possible. Her eyes were a little red and her tears had washed small tracks in the blood on her face, but sleep made her look peaceful and quiet. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and watched her for a moment as she breathed in, out, and in again.

He hadn't told her the entire truth when he'd said one of the first things he wanted to do when he got his body back was to hold her hand.

He wanted to kiss her, too.

The thought made him embarrassed. Really, _really _embarrassed.

He'd always hoped that he would feel this way about someone, but he hadn't expected it to happen while he was a suit of armor. Now he felt more restricted by his steel body than ever. He'd always missed eating and feeling and becoming physically tired and sleeping, but it was impossible to miss the feeling of holding Delilah's hand or sitting with her in his arms, because he'd never experienced those things with his body.

He wanted to feel the things he missed and the things he was missing.

Alphonse shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts, and quietly left the room to head downstairs. He asked Dr. Knox if he could use the phone, and when he got a gruff reply that could've been either a yes or a no, Alphonse dialed the hotel.

"Has Edward Elric come in today?" he asked. He felt a little awkward, calling his brother by his full name.

_"Mr. Elric? No, I can't say that I've seen him. Would you like me to leave him a message?"_

"This is his brother. Could you tell him I'm at the doctor's?" Hopefully, Edward would understand who he meant, and if the message was somehow intercepted, no one else besides Mustang and Hawkeye would pick up on it. "And that things are fine?"

_"Of course. Anything else?"_

"No, thank you."

He hung up and walked into the living room, where Knox was lighting a cigarette. The man raised an eyebrow. Alphonse lowered himself onto his knees among the cluttered mess that was present throughout the entire house.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Knox. I owe you so much."

Knox was surprised at the show of gratitude. "What? I wasn't just gonna let her die. Get up off your ass—stop that nonsense."

Alphonse stood. "If there's anything you need at all, I'll help."

"You can start by being less of a sap." The doctor inhaled a drag of his cigarette. He exhaled, smoke billowing from his mouth. "…I don't need much. Don't have much, anyways."

"What if I helped you clean up around here?" Alphonse suggested. "I-I mean…not that it's _really_ dirty or anything…"

Knox opened his mouth to retort but broke off when the phone rang. The man grumbled to himself again and answered the phone. Soon, he held the receiver out to Alphonse. "Your brother."

Confused, Al took the phone. "Brother?"

_"Hey, Al. You okay?"_

"Yeah—what about you? And how'd you get Dr. Knox's number? I didn't leave it with the hotel—I don't even know it."

_"I got it from Mustang—I thought you might've gone there even before I got the message. And I'm fine. I have a lot to tell you. I'll be by there, after I give the Lieutenant back her gun. How's…how's Del?"_

"She's okay, Brother. That little girl helped her with alkahestry and then I took her here. She's even been awake for a while."

A sigh of relief came from the other end of the line. _"Good. I'm glad. How's she feeling?"_

"She's tired. She, uh, talked to me about a lot of stuff. But things are fine."

_"Fine?" _A sly tone entered Ed's voice. _"Did _you _help her feel fine, little brother?"_

Alphonse would have blushed. "Uh—I-I guess so…"

Ed laughed a little, then sobered. _"A lot of stuff happened. I'll fill you in when I get there. Hold down the fort, 'kay?"_

"Okay. Be careful, Brother."

_"You, too." _Ed hung up.

Al hung up as well, then turned to Knox. "Brother should be by later."

"He'd better not bring any patients with him," the doctor muttered.

* * *

_*throws self out the window*_

_*falls into a ditch*_

_*rolls away*_

_my babies...!_

_fjsk;lajdf Sorry about that. I just have a lot of feelings. And I wrote the darned scene. Gosh I layered that on thick. I almost feel that I've evened out the angst in the story with this one chapter but ahahah more things to come. What really didn't help was that Pandora radio kept giving me feels-y songs like Ever the Same and You'll Be In My Heart and I really did want to throw myself out the window_

_y'all had better have liked this. I was supposed to have started on my April vacation homework today but I spent all day on this instead._

_Thank you for reading and reviewing~ You guys are all awesome, awesome people and I love every one of you._


	33. Chapter 33

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this fic. But I don't profit from it._

* * *

Thirty-Three

"I really told you all that, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

Delilah's face remained red as she stared at her lap. "It wasn't a dream?"

Alphonse chuckled. "No."

She busied herself with eating, feeling too awkward to look at him. She could feel him watching her and she didn't know how to act.

"…You really said all that to me?" she asked finally.

"…I did." She could hear the slight embarrassment in his voice, and she felt glad that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. "And I meant it."

She glanced at him and smiled. He faltered and searched for something to say.

"You need some more sleep," he said. "You only slept…not even two hours."

"I'm hungry." She scooped more food into her mouth and chewed before putting the bowl on the nightstand. "Besides," she said when she finished, "I want to see Edward when he gets here."

Alphonse looked out the window at the setting sun. "I hope he gets here soon."

"He will," Delilah said.

The boy only nodded.

A knock on the door caught their attentions; Lan Fan came into the room, not bothering to wait for admittance. Her footsteps were unsteady; her lack of an arm greatly affected her balance.

Al stood. "You shouldn't be up, Lan Fan!"

The Xingese bodyguard ignored him and stumbled to Delilah's bedside before bowing. Delilah stared at the girl, too surprised and confused to say anything.

"If you and Dr. Knox had not helped me, I wouldn't be alive," Lan Fan said. She lifted her head but didn't stand from the bow. "Thank you. I am still able to help the prince and guard him because of you."

A pleased emotion pooled in Delilah's stomach. She couldn't remember the last time she had been thanked like this. "Um, you're welcome," she said a second before she realized what Lan Fan had said, and her heart sank.

The prince. Ling.

Alphonse shifted. "Um, Lan Fan…"

The bodyguard turned to him. "Yes?"

"Well…"

"Anybody miss me?"

The group paused and turned to the doorway, where a very tired-looking Edward Elric smiled at them. Since that morning, the alchemist had taken a shower and changed into a new set of clothes, which included a long overcoat. He held his suitcase in his right hand and Delilah's briefcase in his left.

Delilah brightened. "Edward!" she said as Al called, "Brother!"

"Hey, Al. You all right, Del? You look a little worse for wear."

She nodded. "I'm mostly tired. And my chest hurts a little when I move too much."

Ed's smile turned a little sad. "Hope you feel better soon. I brought our stuff from the hotel. Dr. Knox wasn't too happy when he saw it, but I think it's best to camp here for a while, all together." He put Delilah's briefcase on the end of the bed and set his suitcase on the floor. "First things first," he said, pulling a long strip of cloth out of his pocket. He held it out to Lan Fan. "Ling wrote this for you."

The bodyguard frowned and took the cloth, holding it up by her one hand and letting it trail toward the floor. She read the Xingese characters, and tears appeared in her eyes.

"Master Ling…" She sank to her knees and smiled. "He says he acquired a Philosopher's Stone…! He'll be the next emperor!" She turned to Edward. "Where is he, then? Where is the prince?!"

"Probably somewhere under Central Command," Ed said.

"But Brother…,"Al said. "I thought Ling—"

Ed held up a hand to stop his brother. "Ling's been turned into the Homunculus known as Greed." He spoke to all of them, but looked at Lan Fan. "His body is pretty much Greed's now, but I _know _Ling is still in there."

Lan Fan stared at him blankly before her hand shot out to clench at his coat. "The prince…the prince is one of _those _things? A Homunculus?!"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Horror overtook Lan Fan's face. She remained speechless for a whole minute before she shot to her feet and tugged at Ed's mechanical arm. "This is automail, right? Where can I get it?"

"Calm down, Lan Fan!" Al said. He put a hand on her shoulder, being careful of her bandages, but she still became off-balanced by the unexpected weight.

"Al's right," Ed said. "I don't think anything's going to happen to Ling or Greed or whatever we wanna call him for the time being. You need to recover, so take the time to do it. But," he added with a smile, "I can introduce you to a great engineer."

Lan Fan let out a sigh of relief, then nodded. "Okay. Okay, good."

"If Lan Fan goes to Rush Valley to see Winry," Delilah said, "shouldn't we wait for Fu to come back so he can go with her? I mean… We can't really go with her. Not all of us. And, um, I don't think you should travel by yourself, Lan Fan."

The bodyguard looked displeased, like she wanted to argue, but she glanced at her lack of a limb and didn't speak.

Ed nodded. "Fu comes back soon, doesn't he?" he asked Lan Fan.

"He should be back within a few days."

"Okay. If he isn't back by then, I'll take you there myself," Ed said.

Lan Fan nodded and bowed. "Thank you." She stood up straight. "Do you have any other news about the prince?"

Ed shook his head. "And, uh, sorry, Lan Fan, but I kinda…" He nodded toward Al and Delilah.

She nodded in understanding. "I suppose I'll leave you for the night, then," she said, leaving the room.

"…People should bow to me more often," Ed mused as he closed the door behind her.

"_Brother,_" Alphonse said, and Delilah laughed.

"Okay, okay." Ed went over to the window, making sure it was locked, and closed the curtains. "In case anyone's out there. We need to talk. Al, can you get the lights?"

"But Dr. Knox doesn't want us to use the lights. He says the neighbors will wonder what's going on, since it's just him who's supposed to live here."

"What!? That's stupid." Ed walked around the bed to get to the nightstand and turned on the lamp. "It's just a light."

"He doesn't want anyone to find Lan Fan, since she's not here legally, Brother! Not to mention she's kinda missing an _arm_."

"We're not gonna get any visitors, Al. Now, you wanna hear what I have to say, or not?"

Al sighed. "Sure. What?"

"You might wanna sit down."

"Just tell us what happened!"

"Okay, then." Ed crossed his arms. "I saw your body, Al."

Alphonse stared at his brother.

Then he sat down heavily on the bed.

"His body?" Delilah sat up straight. "You _saw _it? Where?"

"It's still in the Gate," Ed said. "I saw it when I was going through the Portal to get out of Gluttony's stomach. I think it was because my theory about our spirits being connected was correct."

"What do I look like?!" Al asked. "Am I still ten? …I hope I'm not still ten…." He cast a quick glance at Delilah, and she looked away, flustered for a moment.

Ed laughed a little. "No, you look fourteen. You're pale. Skin and bones. And you need a haircut—it's longer than mine." He sobered. "I tried to bring your body with me, but he said, 'I'm sorry, I can't go with you. You're not my soul.'" He sighed. "Sorry, Al."

"That's okay. At least we know I still have a body!"

Delilah smiled at the excitement in his voice. "I'm sure you'll get it back soon."

Al looked to her. "I hope so."

Ed watched the two of them for a moment and snickered.

Al turned to his brother, perplexed, while Delilah blushed. "What?" Al asked.

"Oh, nothing, little brother." Ed waved his hand. "Nothing at all."

Alphonse studied his brother for a moment. "Wait… You went through the Portal? What about the toll?" He looked from his brother to Delilah and back again. "What did you use?"

"The Stone inside Envy," Ed said.

Al gave a start. "The Philosopher's Stone? But those have people inside them! I thought we weren't—"

"Would you rather we hadn't come back?"

Al paused at his brother's dark tone. "Of course not. But are you saying…?"

"The people in Envy's Stone were from Xerxes." Ed crossed his arms. "That place was around over four hundred years ago. They didn't have any bodies to go back to, Al. They're just…mindless energy forms to be consumed. That's what all of the Stones are."

Delilah shifted. "Don't…don't you think the Stone can solve all our problems?" she asked. "E-especially if there's no other option. It's not like we would make them, but…they're there. And we would use them to do good things, like the doctor, to get your body back or heal people…"

"…like your mom?" Al guessed. Ed raised an eyebrow, but neither of them was looking at him.

Delilah nodded.

Al shook his head. "I don't know… I mean, I'd still feel like I was using people. I don't want to do that."

"Even if it's the only way?" Ed asked. "Even when they've just been converted into energy?"

Al didn't answer.

"You didn't see your body in there, Al," Ed said quietly. He sighed. "Anyway, we'll think about that tomorrow or something. I'm a bit tired to start brainstorming about how to pull your body out. I have some more to tell you, though. For one, it's a sure thing that King Bradley is a Homunculus. They called him Wrath."

"I don't doubt he is one of them," Al said.

"…He seemed so nice when we met him, when we looked around Central Command," Delilah said, looking to Alphonse. "I didn't expect…even after what happened in Dublith…"

Al said nothing.

Ed ran a hand through his bangs. "The Fuhrer said that so long as we don't get in the way of whatever they're doing, we'll be able to keep searching for our bodies. So there's one plus. The Colonel's also been targeted by the Homunculi. For the same reasons as we are, I guess. His team's been scattered around the country. So we don't have them around."

Delilah blinked. "Even Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"She's the Fuhrer's personal assistant, now," Ed said. "She seems fine, but she's being used to keep the Colonel from doing anything against the Fuhrer. I just spoke to her …what…an hour ago? She seemed pretty concerned about you, Del. Gluttony swallowed you right in front of her eyes."

The girl frowned. She remembered Hawkeye's kind advice, and a pang of concern shot through her. "I hope she's okay. And stays okay."

"Wait a second," Al said. He stared at his brother, red eyes wide. "If they have the Lieutenant to keep the Colonel quiet about what's going on, what's keeping us quiet…?"

Edward looked pained. "If we do anything, they…they've threatened to hurt Winry."

No one spoke for a moment.

Delilah thought of the blonde mechanic, her kind words, her love of automail and life and the brothers, her antics and friendship, and Delilah found that her eyes were watering. She quickly wiped at them.

"I already called her. She seems all right," Ed said. "I didn't tell her anything. I don't want her to get worried."

Heavy silence stretched between them.

"Things are getting really dangerous—they _have _been," Ed went on. He looked to Al. "Right?"

Al nodded slowly. He looked at his hands for a moment before turning to Delilah. "…Brother and I have been thinking that it would be a good idea if you stayed with Teacher for a while. Until things settle down."

Delilah stared at him.

"You wouldn't go for a few days, until you're ready to travel," Ed said. "And at least one of us would travel down with you. Maybe we'll all go down with Lan Fan or something."

"Is that okay?" Al asked.

"Oh—um, yes. It's a good idea," she said. She couldn't argue with the logic—Izumi and Sig would be more than able to keep her safe while things were happening in Central—but the thought of leaving Ed and Al made her apprehensive. She felt safest next to Alphonse, and she would worry both about herself and him a lot when they were apart, but going would be the best thing. Realistically, Alphonse—and Edward—couldn't protect her from everything. Her being alive right then and there was a fluke in itself—her next injury might take her to the grave.

She looked to Ed. "You were trying to tell me about this the other day, weren't you?"

He nodded.

"You sure that's all right?" Al asked in concern. "I mean—"

"I'll be fine, Alphonse," she said.

A knock interrupted them. "Hey!" Dr. Knox called before opening the door. He frowned. "Sun's down. Lights out, got it?" He noticed Delilah sitting up, and a vein popped in his forehead. "You should be resting, not gossiping!"

The words made her feel guilty. "…sorry," she said sheepishly.

Knox sighed. "Leave her alone to get some sleep, boys."

"But—" Al began.

"C'mon, Al," Ed said, grabbing his suitcase. "She needs her sleep. And we'll be downstairs."

"…Okay." Al stood and looked to Delilah. "Sleep well, okay?" He nodded toward her briefcase. "You should probably take your medicine."

She smiled. "I will."

"`Night, Del," Ed called.

"Goodnight, Edward."

The boys left, and Knox came to stand beside her bed. "How're you feeling?"

"A lot better already," she said. "Thank you, Dr. Knox."

The coroner paused for a moment. He tapped the bag of fluids. "This is just to keep you hydrated. You seem fine, so before I go to work in the morning I'll come and take the IV out. Then you can clean up—you should be all right to do that by yourself if you're careful. Just don't make my bathroom a mess."

The thought of a shower made Delilah quite happy. "Thank you so much again, Dr. Knox," she said gratefully. "If there's anything I can do for you, just ask."

He adjusted his glasses. "Just get better quickly."

()()()()()

"…Brother?"

Ed mumbled sleepily and lifted his head from the pillow. Dr. Knox had lent him the last of the blankets and bed sheets, and the alchemist had made some sort of a nest in the corner of the kitchen to allow Dr. Knox to have the couch to himself in the "privacy" of the living room. The sleeping arrangements weren't the most comfortable, but Ed had been awake for roughly thirty-six hours and would've slept soundly even if someone like his teacher had been screaming in his ear.

His little brother, however, needed his attention.

"Wha's wron', Al?"

The armor boy sat against the wall near the door. He looked at the floor. "…They didn't threaten just Winry, did they?"

Ed's face fell. "…No, they didn't."

Alphonse put a hand over his face.

()()()()()

If Gluttony's stomach had been Hell, Dr. Knox's shower was Heaven.

Delilah had taken care to clean her clothes with alchemy—she felt amazed that the ability had come back, especially since the last time she'd tried to use it she had been trying to save her own life and it hadn't worked. She hoped that whatever that Father guy had done to block their alchemy wouldn't be used again. Especially if she found herself in a similar situation.

She didn't think she'd wear her white dress for a while, since she kept imagining that bloodstains soaked the fabric even though she had made sure the dress was clean and free of rips, so she'd laid out her blue dress to wear once she'd finished cleaning up. She didn't think she'd finish showering for a while, though.

It seemed like an eternity since she had been clean. At first, all of the watery blood that had streamed from her body down the drain had startled her, but once she'd grown accustomed to the sight, she let herself enjoy the warm water. She scrubbed her hair and body, being careful of her wound, until long after no trace of blood remained. She sat down in the tub halfway through the routine, a little dizzy and tired from both her injury and the hot steam.

She leaned her head against the edge of the tub. _I'll just close my eyes for a second, _she thought.

She ended up closing them for a lot longer than a second.

()()()()()

Outside the bathroom, Alphonse sat against the wall. Knox, before leaving for work, had said that it'd be best to keep an ear out in case Delilah slipped in the shower—another injury wasn't something she could afford. Alphonse was the unofficial volunteer, since Lan Fan and Ed were still sleeping. And frankly, Lan Fan wouldn't be able to help with only one arm. And for some reason, Al didn't really feel comfortable with the thought of Ed doing this job.

He thought about what his brother had told him the night before—that Delilah had been threatened as well as Winry. Winry being in danger was far more than enough to worry him, but having both girls be in danger set him completely on edge. He had started to hope that maybe, since Delilah wasn't needed by the Homunculi anymore, they would leave her alone so long as she kept away from them. But now, if he or his brother put a toe out of line, either Winry or Delilah or _both _could be hurt.

He didn't know if he could take that. Actually, he knew he _couldn't._

Al glanced around the hallway for the umpteenth time even though he knew the only clocks were in the kitchen and in Dr. Knox's room. He had no way of knowing how long Delilah had been in the shower, but it felt like it had been a while. How long did it take girls to shower, anyway? His brother was usually so tired that he'd take the quickest shower possible before collapsing into bed and sleeping for ten hours straight, but Ed probably wasn't the best choice for a comparison with a normal person.

Alphonse knocked on the door. "Delilah?"

He received no answer.

He knocked again. "Delilah? You okay?"

Alarm coursed through him when he couldn't hear any response. He stood and opened the door, finding himself in a cloud of steam. "Delilah? I'm coming in!"

There was still no answer—at least, not one that he could hear over the sound of pouring water. He ventured farther into the room, toward the shower, and grabbed the curtain.

"Delilah?" he called. This time, he heard some sort of groan, and he, fearing she was in pain, that she had fallen or her wound had opened, ripped open the curtain. "Delilah?!"

She gave a start at the noise, waking up fully, and stared up at him.

There was no blood anywhere on her body or in the tub. She didn't even look remotely injured, aside from the scar on her chest.

But she did look quite naked.

She squealed something that sounded an awful lot like _get out get out GET OUT _and grabbed the curtain, trying to cover her body, and Alphonse stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet. He fell to the floor, his helmet tumbling off as he landed on his behind. He scrambled to find it, but Delilah screamed "Alphonse _get OUT_" and he rushed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he called through the door. "It was an accident! I'm sorry!"

"G-go away!" she yelled.

He sat with a _thump _against the wall. "Oh, no." He would've clutched at his head if he'd had it on. He pounded against his neck guard, trying to rid his mind of the sight of her in the shower, but to no avail. "No, no no no no… She probably thinks I'm a…_pervert_…!"

A snort caught his attention, and he looked up to see Edward, clad in an undershirt and boxers, standing a few feet away.

"D-did you…" Ed pointed to Al and then pointed to the bathroom door.

A door down the hall opened and Lan Fan stepped into the hall, holding a kunai in her single hand. She dropped into an expert crouch. "What's wrong?!"

Alphonse grabbed his neck guard and rocked back and forth, distressed.

Ed fell back against the wall, dissolving into a fit of laughter. Lan Fan raised an eyebrow and relaxed from her stance, but still held a firm grip on her weapon.

"_Brother_!"

Ed's cackles only increased; he slid down the wall, falling to the floor and curling into a ball. "Y-you…!" He clutched at his stomach. "Don't—don't make me laugh s-so hard, Al, I g-gotta _pee_!"

Alphonse was about to launch himself at his brother when the bathroom door opened to reveal a sopping wet Delilah. Her face flamed, and water cascaded from her hair onto her dress and the clothes she had in her arms. She purposely didn't look at any of them as she hurried toward her room.

"I'm sorry, Delilah!" Alphonse scrambled after her, too rushed to get to his feet. "You weren't saying anything! I thought you'd fallen! It was an accident! A mistake!"

Delilah was in the middle of closing her door; she paused for the slightest moment, then slammed the door.

"I'm sorry!" Alphonse called. He suddenly turned to his brother. "Stop it! You're not helping!"

"S-sorry, Al!" Ed said, continuing to laugh. He didn't sound sorry at all

Lan Fan seemed to have gotten the gist of what happened. "No one's in danger?" she asked.

"Al is!" Ed managed to sit up and maintain a straight face long enough to say "Looks like he really lost his head about it, too" before he doubled over again, snorting with chuckles.

Alphonse sank to his knees and elbows, distraught.

_She hates me she thinks I'm a pervert I'm so stupid why won't Brother stop laughing she thinks I'm a pervert she hates me—_

"Alphonse."

The boy moved his body to look up. Lan Fan stood in front of him, holding his head out to him by the tassel.

"Get your head back on and apologize correctly," she said, stern but kind. She looked to Ed. "And you—stop laughing or I'll stab you."

Ed kept laughing until he saw the look in her eyes. He shut up and hurried to his feet to head into the bathroom.

Lan Fan swung Al's head a little as if to remind him that it was there. "Come on. Get your head back on."

Al slowly sat up and took his head back before putting it on.

"Stand up."

He slowly stood.

"Now, good luck," Lan Fan said, promptly going back to her room. Alphonse, stunned speechless, watched her leave and close the door behind her.

Ed opened the bathroom door and poked his head out. "Good luck, little brother!" he sang before retreating back into the bathroom and locking the door, as if Al wasn't able to smash in a plank of wood.

Al stood in the hallway for several moments, stewing in his ashamed, embarrassed, and guilty emotions. He thought about what he'd seen and smacked himself in the head. He wished it could hurt.

He finally went to the bedroom door and knocked. "…Delilah?"

"…Go away," came the faint reply.

"Look, I'm really sorry," he said. "Really, _really _sorry. I couldn't hear you. I thought you had fallen or your wound had opened up. I wouldn't have come in otherwise. I'm _sorry_."

He didn't hear anything for a moment. Then she opened the door a few inches, revealing her red face. She stared at the floor.

"…You…saw me?" she said, and Alphonse wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.

"I…wasn't purposely _looking_," he said, wishing he were having any conversation other than the one that was taking place right that second.

She closed the door.

"Delilah! I'm sorry!"

She opened it again, just a little. "…You…" Her face became even redder.

"It won't happen again, I swear!" He waved his hands. "I promise! It was a mistake!"

She flinched a little. "Don't…use that word. Please. I…don't like it."

At first, Alphonse had the wild thought that she wished what had happened _wasn't _a mistake, and the ridiculous notion confused him. Then he realized that she meant just the word, the idea.

_She still thinks _she's _a "mistake."_

He lowered his arms to his sides. "It was an accident. I would never purposely see you like that."

He didn't understand why she looked so mortified until he realized what he'd said.

"Delilah!" he said as she slammed the door. "I—I didn't mean it _that_ way—"

"P-please go away," she said from inside the room. "L-leave me alone for a little while."

"I… Okay," he said. "I'm sorry." He backed away from her door. Then he hit himself in the head again.

The bathroom door opened once more. "Sounds like someone's in _trouble_," Ed said, cackling as he retreated before Alphonse had a chance to become violent. The sound of running water soon came from inside.

Alphonse slowly walked to the first floor and collapsed on the couch.

"I'm despicable," he moaned into the cushions. "A horrible human being. Awful."

He would have kept going, but a knock sounded from the front door. He almost didn't get up, but the knock came again, so he stood and answered the door.

"Ah—hi, Mr. Arm—um, I mean, hello Mr. Alphonse."

May, the little Xingese girl, stood on the doorstep. For the first time, Al noticed that a tiny animal sat on her shoulder.

Al forced himself to forget about his troubles for the moment. He tipped his head in confusion. "May? What're you doing here?" He paused. "How'd you _get _here?"

"You said you were going to Dr. Knox's," she said with a bright smile. "So I asked around to find out where he lived. Anyway, um, would it be all right if I asked for that favor you said you owe me?" she asked hesitantly, poking her fingers together. The tiny black and white cat-thing poked its paws together, too.

"Um…I guess so," he said, perplexed.

May continued to poke her fingers together. "Would it be all right if I sorta…ask that that favor be done for someone else?"

"Um, yeah, sure," Al said. "Who for?"

She brightened. "He says his name's Dr. Marcoh."

* * *

_a/n: Random fact: 33 is one of my favorite numbers. It's just behind 333 and 3._

_I'm kinda just laughing at myself about this chapter because I know it sorta kinda happened already when Al saw her almost take off her dress but the idea came into my head because I wanted this chapter to be more lighthearted (ahahah look how great that turned out) and then the idea wouldn't go away but that's okay because I liked it I liked it a lot. Not as much as the last chapter (...I've actually read that about ten times in the last three days because I'm weird like that and I love that chapter so much), but I still like this._

_I go back to school in the morning, and I have lots of homework to do in the next couple days and SATs are looming ahead of me, so I dunno when I'll be able to update next. Sorry for leaving off at that cliffhanger (ahhaah I'm actually not), so here, have an omake:_

**omake/the adventures of Lustling pt. II**

Alphonse tried to scramble out the door, but he found that it was closed. He grabbed the handle to open it, but when he pulled, the door wouldn't open.

On the other side, out in the hall, a string was tied taut between the handle of the bathroom door and the handle of the bedroom door.

Lustling grinned.

"...What are you doing?"

Lustling turned to see Ed standing behind him. The Homunculus smirked, and Ed realized with a blush that he was in his undershirt and underwear.

"Oh, I'm just letting the lovebirds have some time together," Lustling said. He cupped his hand around his ear, as if he actually needed help to hear the screams that were coming from the bathroom.

_"GET OUT!"_

_"I'M TRYING!"_

__"...How'd you get in here?" Ed asked.

"Hm? Oh, Lan Fan's window."

"...Really?"

"Yup. But I didn't stay in there long. I had other people to see." He winked at Ed.

The alchemist's face blazed. His eyes narrowed.

"Get. Out."


	34. Chapter 34

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own this fic and my OCs but I don't profit from this. If only reviews were money. _

* * *

Thirty-Four

Delilah lay flat on her back, staring at the plain ceiling above her.

Her mind kept replaying how Alphonse had _seen _her, and she felt embarrassed and vulnerable, even though it had happened half an hour ago and her skin was no longer bare.

She rolled over and burrowed under the covers. Her soaking hair dampened the sheets, and she tried to ignore the sensation of wet cloth on skin. Aside from that, being cocooned in the bed made her feel dry and safe from any prying eyes.

She knew that Alphonse had had sincere intentions, but that didn't change the fact that he'd invaded her privacy, that she felt uncomfortable and inadequate about her body.

Her body was tiny compared to the average person—not necessarily short, but thin and fragile. Her hair fell straight but always appeared a little messy since she often forgot to brush it out. Her face was average, her chest small at best. She had never been impressed with her body, and since she had learned about her parentage she loathed the mere thought of her form and her blood.

For a fleeing moment, Alphonse had seen her exposed, and she feared that she had deterred him, that he would look at her now as if she were atrocious.

Delilah shook her head. She knew the thought wasn't right—Alphonse wasn't that sort of person, not in the slightest—but doubt tugged at her mind.

A knock sounded at her door. "Del? I got you some lunch."

"I'm not hungry."

"Don't lie to me! Al told me you need to eat a lot right now." Ed opened the door and his footsteps sounded as he came to her bedside. "What're you doing under there?"

She poked her head out from under the covers. "…It's warm," she half-lied.

Ed rolled his eyes. "You're not really that upset about this morning, are you?"

She looked down and didn't answer, which was an answer in itself.

Ed snorted. "Really? You do know this is Al we're talking about, right? He's probably beating himself up right now for something that was a total accident. He does that, if you hadn't noticed."

Delilah sat up straight. "I…I know. B-but I'm—"

"You're not mad, just embarrassed," Ed said. "So's he."

She stayed silent.

"Hey." Ed frowned. "Did you tell Al about what you told me?"

A small jolt went through her chest at this as she remembered her tearful confessions. She nodded.

The boy smiled. "And what did I tell you? He doesn't care about stupid stuff like your parents."

Calling her parentage stupid didn't sound right to her in the slightest, but she didn't protest. "Y-you were right…but he didn't like w-what I did. And, um, I'm still nervous about it."

He reached out and patted her head. "It'll be fine. Eat that, okay? I'm gonna head back down and help Al clean up the house for Dr. Knox. Unless you want me to stay?"

She shook her head.

"Good." He retreated to the door. "Feel free to join us if you feel up for it." And he left.

Delilah, in contemplative thought, stared at the bowl of soup in her lap.

She was very tired of soup.

()()()()()

"Look at this mess," Ed muttered. He kicked at a crumpled piece of paper, only one of many. "Dr. Knox certainly doesn't take care of things."

"He's probably busy," Al said. He scooped another handful of trash into the wastebasket. "He must work hard."

Ed mumbled something inaudible. He went to the table and stacked the dirty dishes together. For a few moments, the brothers worked in silence, but then the older Elric slowed his movements.

"Al?"

The armor boy paused and looked to Ed. "Yeah?"

Ed sighed. "I've been thinking—you're right. It's wrong to use the Stone for ourselves."

Al didn't speak for a moment. "So…we won't use one?"

Ed grimaced. "I…I won't lie to you about this, Al. If the Stone turns out to be the only thing that will get y… _our _bodies back, then I won't hesitate to use one. But only if it comes down to that."

A gloom settled upon Al. "I don't—"

"Alphonse." Ed's gaze sharpened. The stare lasted for several seconds before he softened and grinned. "I do think we have a lead, though. I found out that there weren't any other alchemists that could use their alchemy, but Scar and that girl were able to use theirs the other day. We'll just ask her about that and maybe we can get somewhere."

"You mean May's alkahestry?"

"Yeah."

"You should've said something earlier, Brother!" Al exclaimed. "She was here earlier, while you were in the shower."

Ed jumped. "W-what? She was?"

Al quickly relayed his conversation with May to Ed. "Don't tell Delilah, though. I want it to be a surprise," he finished.

Ed frowned. "…Did she really say that? It seems…too easy."

Al had to grudgingly agree. "I know how it looks, but I trust May with this."

Ed still didn't look completely convinced, but he shrugged. "I guess we'll just keep a lookout. And I'll get to ask her some questions about her alkahestry, so that's good. I just don't want anything to happen to Del."

Alphonse glanced at the ground. "…Me neither."

"I hope it all works out, though," Ed said. He grinned. "After all, you need to make it up to her after today."

The younger brother slapped his hands against the ground. "It was an _accident_!"

A loud clatter caught their attentions; Delilah stood in the doorway, and her soup bowl lay at her feet. A slight blush, caused by her mistake, sat upon her cheeks, and she looked at the floor.

Al felt a little nervous (_Oh my goodness if she's still mad at me—I hope she's not—please don't be mad_), but concern outweighed his fear. "You shouldn't be up, Delilah," he said. As he rose and walked over to her, Ed, unnoticed but still snickering, scurried out the second kitchen doorway into the living room.

The girl stood frozen in place and didn't look at him. "Um, Edward said you were cleaning up…and I wanted to help."

Al wanted to smile, but worry still clouded his mind. "Y-you, um, should probably rest."

"But…" She trailed off, then took a deep breath. Her blush deepened as she managed to look Alphonse in the eye. "I-I forgive you."

The boy shifted in surprise. "R-really?"

"J-just don't do it again!" she said, trying to sound stern but failing miserably.

"I-I won't, I promise."

The two stood in silence for a moment, both rather hesitant to look the other in the eye anymore.

"Do you…" She stopped herself and shook her head. "N-never mind." She leaned down to retrieve the fallen bowl and spoon before straightening up and hurrying to the sink.

Al followed after her. "What is it? You can tell me."

She paused and slowly glanced back at him. "Do you…" She looked down at the floor. "…think I'm…pretty?"

Al would have been crimson if it were possible. The _very unnecessary _shower fiasco flashed in his mind and at that moment he wanted to throw himself off a cliff.

(Unbeknownst to them, Ed stood in the living room beside the doorway, holding his hands over his mouth and nose so that his chortles wouldn't give him away.)

"W-well…y-yeah, of course," Al stammered. "I-I think you're very pretty."

The red shade of Delilah's skin was enough for their combined embarrassment. She didn't speak.

"…Hey," he said, trying to make his voice sound somewhat normal. He came closer to her. "I have a surprise for you."

Her blush started to recede. She looked at him curiously. "A what?"

He wanted to smile. "A surprise. But you can't see it until tomorrow afternoon."

She frowned. "What? Why?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?" He wagged his finger. "Just trust me on this."

She smiled after a moment. "Okay."

()()()()()

Dr. Knox's house was absolutely filthy.

The trio of alchemists set to work on cleaning up the kitchen first. Even with Ed and Al fighting against the horrid clutter while Delilah fended off the mountain of dirty dishes, it still took two hours for the kitchen to become spotless.

If Knox's kitchen becoming clean wasn't a sign that miracles could happen, then Edward would be taller than Alphonse.

The doctor came home several hours after night fell. Some sort of half-scowl crossed his face when he saw Ed and Al at work in the living room, but when he saw Delilah curled up half-asleep on the couch, a vein pulsed in his forehead.

"What're you doing, letting her come all the way down here?!" he snapped to Ed and Al. "She should be resting!"

Delilah lifted her head from the armrest. "…But I am resting, Dr. Knox."

The man twitched. "But you were helping, weren't you?"

She shrunk back a little in guilt, and Alphonse said, "I've been keeping an eye on her—"

"Oh, stop it," Knox muttered. "The only thing that would make this worse would be if—"

"Here's another trash bag," Lan Fan said, emerging from the kitchen and handing the piece of plastic to Ed.

Knox's scowl became quite genuine as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "No one wants to get better, apparently…."

"Um…" Delilah sat up and held out a small square photo to the doctor. "I found this when we were cleaning. It looks important."

Knox sighed and took the photo. He glanced at it. "Just my wife and son," he said before dropping the picture.

"W-wait!" Alphonse reached out and snatched the photo before it could fall to the floor. "You can't just do that to a family picture!"

Knox raised an eyebrow. "What do you care about what I do with my things? It's not your business."

Al's eyes fell to the floor. "…It makes me sad when families don't get along."

"Al…," Ed said.

Knox took a small package out of his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "It's not that we don't get along."

"Then why don't you live together?" Al asked. "I…I don't have a house to live in, or parents around…so it makes me sad."

The doctor hesitated for a moment before he lit the cigarette. "We separated after the end of the civil war. It was after I returned from Ishval. I was safe at home, but I had flashbacks of the battlefield. Then I began having insomnia. And when I _could _fall asleep, I had nightmares and thrashed in my sleep." He took a drag and blew out the excess smoke. "One night my wife got so worried that she tried to wake me. I thought she was an enemy soldier and tried to kill her. We couldn't stay together after that."

No one spoke.

Knox smoked for a moment more. "I don't have any _good _war stories from Ishval. Everyone who went came back scarred. I worked a lot with Mustang. He would flame the Ishvalans and I would dissect them. I was told to do it for the _noble _goal of 'human evolution.' I was forced to work on corpse after corpse after corpse. After that I started to think that I didn't have the right to work on living human beings anymore, so when I came back home I became a coroner." He looked to Delilah. "At least Marcoh got to work on the living."

She looked down at her lap.

The man sighed. "You should all get some sleep. It's late."

()()()()()

Rain fell from the sky and plastered Envy's hair to his skin. He pushed the greenish strands out of his face. Violent thoughts stewed in his mind as he watched the water bounce off the pavement.

A gun would've been nice, he mused. Like when he'd shot that Ishvalan runt—loud, but quick, so sudden that it had taken several moments for the mother to screech. He thought about shooting the incestuous bastard kid, watching her body fall as that Elric boy screamed.

Such a death would be too quick, though. The girl had evaded him too many times—sometimes it had been his fault, sometimes it had been by chance, but it still pissed him off. He wanted her to scream in agony as she bled out the blood that shouldn't even be considered human. He wanted to hack off her fingers, her feet, her limbs, then dangle them in front of her while her life ebbed away. It would be even better if the armor had to watch, almost as good as having that kid be the cause of her death.

The only thing that would make Envy's anger worse would be if that girl hadn't survived.

The Homunculus looked back into the shadows of the alley. "You up for some hunting, Gluttony?"

The fat Homunculus's eyes glinted.

()()()()()

As Alphonse led Delilah toward the train station, he kept mindful of her steps and the way she breathed. She hadn't recovered yet, and he didn't want to push her. He would be more than happy to carry her if she felt too weak to walk.

Ed frowned, turning his head around to keep watch. Al knew he still felt the whole arrangement reeked of "too easy." "Didn't realize how far away the station was till I paid for the cab," he muttered.

"…Why are we at the station?" Delilah asked, looking up at the building's massive entrance.

Al looked at her. "I told you—it's a surprise!"

She frowned at his playful tone. "We're not going to Dublith yet, are we? We don't have our things."

Ed grinned. "Nope, we're giving you away. The Southern Circus wanted some little runt to feed to their chimeras."

Delilah looked confused and nervous, and Ed burst out laughing, doubling over and holding his stomach.

Al couldn't help but chuckle. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't listen to him."

Ed's snickers subsided, and he stood up straight. "Don't be so gullible, Del." He patted her head.

"N-no, I'm not!" she protested. Ed laughed again, and she pouted. "I just want to know what's going on."

"Don't worry about it," Al said. "It'll happen soon."

Ed checked his pocket watch. "You'd think it'd happen now—"

He broke off when someone knocked into him and he fell to the ground. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his hip as he looked to the person who'd hit him. "Hey—hey, it's you!"

"I'm sorry!" May gingerly patted her head as she sat up, but she froze when she noticed who she had run into. She jumped to her feet and turned to Alphonse. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Ed scowled. "Completely forgets about me…. Hey, girl, tell me about your—"

May didn't wait for Al's response. She dashed past Ed, cutting him off, and grabbed onto Delilah's hands. "I'm so glad to meet you! Well, I mean, I met you, but you weren't exactly conscious."

Delilah frowned in confusion before understanding lit her eyes. "Are you May?"

The alkahestrist nodded, smiling. "Yep, I'm May Chang! And this is Shao May," she said, and the black-and-white cat that Al had seen with her before tottered down the length of May's arm to sniff at Delilah's hand.

Delilah immediately tried to pet the cat, but the animal bit down on her finger.

Al hurried forward. "Are you—?"

"She's so _cute_," Delilah said, unhurt by the mini-onslaught. She picked up the cat and held her in front of her face, smiling at the cat and stroking its cheek. The animal squirmed, but Delilah just hugged her close to her chest.

Alphonse relaxed. A long time had passed since he'd seen her with an animal. The presence of one brought out a side of her that was just…_adorable_.

"She's a panda," May said. She held out her hand, and Shao May wriggled free of Delilah's grip and scurried up May's arm before nestling on her master's shoulder and looking with distrust at Delilah. "She never grew—she got a disease when she was a baby. But she's fine just the way she is."

Delilah looked heartbroken now that the cat-panda had left her. She turned to Alphonse. "Can we get a cat?"

"No, _no, _definitely _not_," Ed said, barging into the scene. "We don't have time to be adopting cats or pandas or panda-cats or anything like that!"

"But Brother—!"

"No 'buts' about it!" Ed jabbed his finger under Al's chin. "I'll dismantle you for a whole day if you bring back another stray, and I'll send _you_," he said, whipping around to Delilah, "to…I dunno—that circus! Yeah!"

She pouted, and May said, "Don't worry—you can hang out with me and Shao May!"

The panda made a face.

Delilah smiled at the words and grasped May's hands. "I never got to thank you for saving me."

May seemed surprised at the gratitude. "It's not like I wasn't going to help you—you were in trouble."

"But really, May," Al said, "you helped us so much."

May grew flustered at the onslaught of praise. "N-no, really—"

"Sorry to interrupt," Ed said, sounding anything but as he intruded upon them again, "but aren't we on a schedule? Not to mention you're all being so _mushy_."

Al laughed. "You're right, but what's wrong with that?" he asked, talking Delilah's hand as May began to lead them down the street. Ed only grumbled in response.

Delilah flushed a little at the contact, but didn't pull away. "I thought meeting May was the surprise."

"Nope." Alphonse looked to her, tilting his head so that it looked like he was smiling. "This is going to be even better."

May looked back and smiled. "I'm taking us there right now." She ducked around a corner into a dirty alleyway, leading the way among the tipped trash cans and oily puddles left from the earlier rain. The place was a literal dump.

The alkahestrist made a face. "I wish there were another way back to the freight trains." She sighed and hurried forward, using her agility to keep herself from stepping into the trash. Ed and Al picked a path to follow her with ease, but Delilah struggled.

"Are you tired?" Alphonse asked, helping her through the sewage minefield. He waded through a shallow puddle to keep a hold on her hand.

She stumbled a little over the trash. "A bit." Her labored breathing and slow movements said otherwise.

He let go of her only to put his hands on her back and shoulder, steering her away from what appeared to be a large pile of rotting cabbage. "Do you want me to carry you?"

She shook her head. "You said it's a surprise. I want to get to it myself."

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to reopen your wound."

"You'd think Central would have cleaner side-streets," Ed said, whining. "This is dirty and gross—"

He slipped on what could possibly have been a used diaper and landed in a puddle.

He scrambled to his feet. "Disgusting—gross—I don't wanna know—_Al, stop laughing!_"

Delilah joined in the laughter and put a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles, but it didn't help much.

Ed slapped at his coat, doing his best to get the pieces of trash off it. "Please tell me we're close."

May smiled. She hopped onto the only standing trash can in the area and pointed. "See that fence there? We just need to use alkahestry to get through and we'll be in the train yard." She jumped from her perch and headed toward the chain link barrier, Ed following as closely as he could.

"Are you sure we aren't going somewhere?" Delilah asked. She found a relatively clear but narrow path along the wall and stuck to it.

Al had a bit of trouble following because of his bulk, but he managed. "Not telling."

"But what about my things? I only have my gloves."

"Don't worry about it."

She looked back at him and frowned. He nodded.

Her lips turned upward. "Is it…something nice?"

He laughed. "Of course it is."

Her eyes lit up with excitement. At that moment, they caught up with May and Ed, the latter stepping back a little to admire the Al-sized hole he'd put in the fence. May hurried through first, then Delilah and the brothers. Ed didn't bother fixing the hole, saying "We'll have to leave anyways."

Delilah looked around the new area. The ground lay flat and was lined with numerous tracks and too many train cars to count. Some of the freight trains had open cargo segments, revealing dark interiors. The rain that had fallen that morning had drenched the ground, but the afternoon sunshine had dried small patches of dirt. A train whistle blew, and the sound of a train travelling over tracks sounded nearby.

"What now?" Ed asked bluntly.

May smiled. "You guys wait right here," she said, hurrying to the nearest line of trains and jumping into an open compartment.

Alphonse grasped Delilah's shoulders and gently turned her around to face him. "Just another minute."

"…I'm nervous now," she admitted.

Ed smirked. "Don't be."

She frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing ended up coming out.

"Careful." May's voice drifted over from nearby. "It's a bit of a drop, Dr. Marcoh."

"Thank you, May."

Delilah reached out to Alphonse for support. He moved his grip to her arms, keeping her standing. Her eyes opened wide.

"…is it…?" she whispered.

"Why don't you look?" he murmured back.

Slowly, she turned her head toward where May approached with Marcoh.

Alphonse had never been this happy to see tears fall from Delilah's eyes.

She let go of him and rushed at Marcoh. The old man let out a grunt of surprise as the girl threw her arms around him, burying her face in the rough fabric cloak covering his shoulder.

"Delilah?" The man didn't move. "What—what are you doing here?"

Delilah was too overcome to say anything, so May spoke: "You seemed really concerned when I mentioned her the other day, so I met up with Mr. Alphonse and we decided that we would get you two to see each other before you and I left tonight."

"It's been awhile, Dr. Marcoh," Alphonse said.

"I almost didn't recognize you," Ed said, noting the doctor's scarred, pockmarked skin.

Delilah pulled away from Marcoh enough to look at him. "Y-your face…!"

"It's…a long story." He smiled sadly, then shook his head. "My god, you've changed."

Some sort of half-laugh, half-sob escaped her throat. "A lot's happened."

He sighed and patted her head. "I worried a lot about you."

She nodded. "Me, too." She stared at him for a long moment, tears streaming down her face. "Are…are you okay? Envy said—basically said they had you."

Marcoh's eyes widened. "You've met Envy?"

A grimace formed on her face. "…Several times."

"Several—?!" Marcoh looked to Edward and Alphonse. "She's been _near _that monster?!"

Guilt flooded Al. "I…I never meant for these things to happen to her. We're taking her to Dublith as soon as she's okay to travel. She'll be safe there."

The doctor looked to Delilah, then Al, then back to the girl once more. "That's right…. I want to look at the wound. That kind of puncture wound is serious."

Delilah opened her mouth to say something, but May suddenly put a hand to her own lips and shushed the older girl.

The group fell quiet, and all eyes turned to the alkahestrist.

"There's…" May's mouth fell open, and her faraway eyes widened. "They're coming."

Ed was the fastest to react; he dropped into a stance and turned to look back at the fence. Alphonse hurried to Delilah's side, taking a hold of her shoulders and looking around, keeping alert. Marcoh held onto Delilah's arm.

Ed glanced back to May. "What, you got that same sense thing that Ling—?"

"Good work, Gluttony. I was worried our little escapees had already fled."

From out of the alley appeared Envy and Gluttony. The latter was stuffing his face full of something rotten and licking his fingers, while Envy strode through the hole in the fence. He put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, would you look at this." Derision filled Envy's voice. "A family reunion. The runaway doctor and his companion, Miss Incest."

Alphonse's grip on Delilah's shoulders tightened. "Don't call her that."

The Homunculus's eyes widened at the dark tone, and he grinned after a moment. "Oh, she's got a bodyguard. I see."

"Get your ugly ass outta here," Ed snapped. "You don't have your pops to stop our alchemy here, so don't try anything."

Envy scowled.

Gluttony tottered forward. "Can I eat them, Envy?"

"Not the Elrics—I told you that already. You can have the girls, but I'd rather take Marcoh back _alive._" Envy's frown transformed into another wicked smile. "But let me take care of Miss Incest first."

Gluttony pouted. "But I like live meat."

"You aren't going to eat any of us," Ed snapped.

While his brother distracted the Homunculi, Al looked to May. "Get them out of here, okay? Please."

The alkahestrist nodded determinedly even though she looked fearful of the monsters.

Al rubbed a small circle into Delilah's back with his thumb and tilted his head down toward her. "Go with May, okay? Just keep running."

She trembled. "…B-be careful."

The fear in her voice hurt him. "You, too."

"You aren't getting away this time, Miss Incest," Envy called. He smirked. "You're going to die here."

* * *

_a/n: I'm so sorry for the delay! I've been so busy, and I had to study for the SATs that I took yesterday. (I feel really good about the test, just saying. I feel like I got nearly every writing portion question correct.) Hopefully the next update won't take too long._

_In my original plans, Delilah wasn't going to be unconscious when they escaped from Father's place. She was going to be forced to escape with Scar and have met Marcoh, which would've been really interesting if it weren't for the fact that it would've really not gone too well with what I want to do, which'll be shown next chapter, I think. I also tried to make this chapter really fluffy and stuff because AlxDel is so cute I can't stand it and yeah I know I'm the author but still._

_I do have an omake for you guys, since I took so long to update. It's for all you Doctor Who fans out there since I put a reference in._

**omake**

****"Well, would you look at this." Derision filled Envy's voice. "A family reunion. The runaway doctor and his companion, Miss Incest."

A squeal rose up, and May rushed toward Envy. The Homunculus backed away in surprise (and fear) as the little girl looked up at him, her eyes sparkling.

"You watch Doctor Who, too?!"

Envy raised an eyebrow. "...What?"

"Doctor Who!" May waved her arms. "I watch it all the time! Ten's my _favorite. _I don't like Martha. But I love Rose and Donna and _OH MY GOSH CAN YOU SHAPESHIFT INTO DAVID TENNANT FOR ME?!"_

Envy backed away, eyes wide with fear. "...Get away from me."

Gluttony tipped his head. "Little girl watches Doctor Who, too?"

May dashed to his side. "You watch it?!"

Gluttony smiled, and drool dropped from his mouth. "I like the Adipose."


	35. Chapter 35

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. Only own the fic and the OCs but hey guess what I don't profit which is why I'm kinda poor._

* * *

Thirty-Five

A train whistle sounded nearby.

Envy lunged toward them, and Alphonse moved to intercept the attack with his arms. The assault held more force than he had thought it would, but he kept his ground.

"Alphonse!" Delilah cried out.

"Get out of here!" He pushed Envy back, but the Homunculus recovered and tried to rush around him. Alphonse darted forward just in time to catch the creature by the arm and pivoted, using Envy's momentum to send him crashing face-first into the ground.

In the brief reprieve, Al glanced toward Delilah and saw May and Marcoh herding her into the maze of freight cars. She tried to look back, but the doctor steered her forward.

Envy rushed to his feet, tearing free of Al's grip. He was about to hurry after the escaping trio when Ed dashed in, slicing off the Homunculus's arm with his bladed automail. Envy screeched as blood spurted from the stump, and he staggered backward away from them as his severed limb dissipated.

Ed pivoted to guard Al's back against Gluttony. "Can you deal with him? It's hard enough to deal with this fatso."

Al nodded, dropping into a ready crouch. "Of course." He glared at the Homunculus. "Why are you doing this? We haven't done anything wrong."

Envy panted as he flexed his regenerated fingers. "By Father's book, no. He just sent me looking for Marcoh, but he didn't say anything about me not being able to take the time to kill some people. Since you're pissing meoff just by keeping that useless bitch alive."

Al's fists tightened. "Don't talk about her like that."

A mocking smile crossed the Homunculus's face. "Or what? You'll kill me?" He laughed. "Someone's dying today, but not me. That bitch deserves to be punished for slipping out of my hands."

Alphonse felt sickened. "I won't let you touch her."

Envy snorted.

At that moment, Gluttony jumped forward at Ed, distracting the red-coated brother, and Envy dashed toward the freight cars.

"No, you don't!" Al clapped his hands and slapped them to the ground, causing an earthen wall to rise in front of Envy's path. The Homunculus stopped short, startled, then used his powerful legs to jump on top of the structure. He looked back just in time to see Al put his hands together again; the ground beneath the boy's feet shot upward at an angle, propelling him through the air.

Envy couldn't get out of the way in time. Alphonse barreled into him, and though the Homunculus was more massive than he looked, inertia carried them into the steel frame of a freight car. Air _whooshed _out of Envy's lungs, and Alphonse heard something crack.

They tumbled to the ground, their limbs tangled, and Envy struggled to get away. Al dug his fingers into flesh—an arm, a leg, the torso, he didn't know—and clung as if for dear life.

"Tryin' to play hero, huh?" Envy said, bits of blood spattering from his mouth as he coughed. Red light flashed from his body as his wounds healed. "It's not going to work."

"I don't get tired," Al said. He struggled to keep his hold on the Homunculus. "I could fight you all day."

Gluttony crashed into the earthen wall behind them, shattering it. Envy took advantage of Al's momentary lapse in attention, shifting his body's anatomy just enough tor Alphonse to lose his grip. The lithe Homunculus used Al's head as a springboard to get to Gluttony.

"Get up, you idiot!" he snapped, roughly lifting the fat Homunculus to his feet. "Don't let Fullmetal get you, or I will!"

"Al! You all right?" Ed called from across the rubble. He stood at a distance from the Homunculi; close enough to dart after them if they ran, but far away enough to dodge any attack.

"I'm fine!" Al replied, though he was actually fuming. He jumped to his feet and turned to face the enemy.

"Just get outta here, dumbasses," Ed said. "You're obviously outclassed!"

Envy scowled, and Gluttony pouted and said, "But then I won't get my dinner."

"You're not eating anyone!" Al snapped. "Not again!"

Envy yelled something to Gluttony, then tried to rush past Al again. Al darted to the side, trying to catch the Homunculus, but Envy expected the move and dodged. Alphonse nearly lost his footing, and several seconds were lost in his chase.

Ed clapped his hands and sent a pulse of earth at Envy, causing the Homunculus to slip. "Get him, Al!" Ed yelled, barely managing to parry Gluttony's giant fist in time.

Alphonse ran after Envy, catching up just after the Homunculus slithered though a gap between cars, the line of the train now separating the two brothers and the two Homunculi. Al swung in to bash his face, but Envy ducked and slipped behind Al's back.

"Why so worried about Miss Incest, hmm?" the Homunculus hissed.

_"Don't call her that!" _Rage overtook Alphonse, and he turned, fist raised—

—only to see Delilah, her blue eyes wide with fear, staring up at him.

He froze.

A grin too wicked and too horrifying appeared on her face, and she leapt at him, knocking him over onto his back. She crouched above him, her hands on his arms and her feet on his chest.

Alphonse didn't move. He only stared.

"If only I could see your _expression_," Delilah said, her voice loud and raspy with relish.

He couldn't speak. He could hardly think.

"So _easy_ to trick a human," she continued scornfully. "As disgusting as this appearance is, _you won't do a thing._"

This wasn't right. Her body, her voice—they were hers, but she would never act this way, never say such things—

"It'll be _wonderful_."

—and he was afraid—

"I'll make you watch." Delilah leaned toward him, her eyes lighting with grotesque glee. "I'll slice her limbs off, tear them from her body. She'll _scream, _and so will you, and her filthy blood will be everywhere. I'll kill her slowly. I'll make it _hurt_."

Alphonse couldn't help it—he imagined the scene. He imagined her being kicked and beaten, being cut open and torn at. He remembered her pale face, her blood, how _scared _she'd been when he'd hurt her. He remembered her crying in his arms.

"…No." He couldn't let her be hurt again. "You're not her." He couldn't believe that he'd thought that for a moment.

Envy raised an eyebrow, an expression distinctly his and not Delilah's, but the action still unsettled Alphonse. "Ah, but what can you do?" His voice started to slip into Delilah's. "You just _fucking __**love**__ the girl, _don't you?!"

Fury filled Alphonse. Perhaps Envy saw it in his eyes, because he jumped up and began his pursuit once more, but Al caught his—_Delilah's_—ankle. The Homunculus fell to the ground, twisting just in time to land on his back and not on his face, and Al rolled over and crawled onto his—_Delilah's_—limbs, trapping him. True fear flashed through blue eyes, and Envy started thrashing; he would have dislodged Alphonse if the armor hadn't been so heavy.

Alphonse felt utter revulsion as he held Envy down; if he had been able to vomit, he already would have. He knew full well that the creature beneath him wasn't Delilah at all, but her appearance struggling in fear because of his actions distressed him. He wanted to punch Envy senseless for all the stress and hell he'd put her though, for daring to disguise himself as her, but Alphonse couldn't bear to do it.

Envy noticed Alphonse's reluctance and stopped thrashing. He continued to smile, the expression contorted on Delilah's face. "Try to stop it as long as you want, but I will kill that useless bitch."

Alphonse almost pulled Envy up to smash his head into the ground, but his repulsion held him back. His fingers curled tightly around Envy's arms, however. "If you call her something like that again…"

"Didn't we already have this conversation?" Envy asked, snorting. "You won't kill me. Not while I'm like this."

He didn't answer. He stared at Envy, at Delilah's face, for a long moment. His voice came out in a whisper: "Why do you want to hurt her so much?"

The Homunculus's eyes narrowed. "Why do you want her to live?" he spat back. "She's a freak of nature—no, not even nature. Her parents fucked each other when they were fucking related! She's a fucking useless cockroach that _just won't die!_"

He spoke with greater intensity with each passing second; spit bubbled from his lips. He was getting so carried away that his eyes were flashing with minute red sparks. _"Why do you fucking care so much when she's just a fucking mistake?!"_

At that moment, his eyes became purple.

Alphonse balled his fist and punched him in the jaw.

Envy hadn't been prepared; his head jerked at the impact.

Alphonse froze, staring with horror at the figure of the body he'd just hit.

The Homunculus recovered quickly and morphed his now-free hand into the body of a snake. He coiled the arm around Al's middle and pulled the armor boy off of him, rolling Al onto his back. Envy leapt to his feet, transforming into his usual lean appearance, before sprinting off.

Alphonse lay on his back, staring up at the sky, feeling sick and disgusted with himself.

The eyes had been purple, but the face had been Delilah's. The pain had been Envy's, but the expression had been hers.

Alphonse remembered when Delilah had lain beneath him, his armor piercing her chest, and he knew that not an hour would go by that he wouldn't feel guilt if he caused her pain, if he caused her death.

He would be alone in the night once more if she were gone.

"Al?! What're you—get up!"

Only a few seconds had passed, but Ed was suddenly there in his line of sight. Ed waved his hands, trying to usher Alphonse to his feet.

"Envy's getting away!" Ed yelled before bounding after the Homunculus.

Alphonse snapped out of his thoughts and scrambled to his feet to follow his brother. Envy had disappeared from sight among the freight compartments, but his trail was easy to follow; he'd left footprints in the wet ground. Al moved too fast to inspect the tracks thoroughly, but Envy's mixed with three other sets.

There was a spatter trail of blood on the ground, too.

"Envy!" Gluttony called from somewhere behind Alphonse. "I smell them! I smell her blood! The dirty one's!"

_Her blood._

Delilah's wound must have opened.

Alphonse pumped his legs even fasting, darting around a corner or two and through the space between train cars before he came upon Envy's form; the Homunculus stood still, his back to Al, but Al had no way of stopping. He barreled into Envy, sending the two of them tumbling to the ground.

"Al!" Ed yelled. He'd been standing a little off to the side, just as still as Envy had been.

"Those bastards!" Envy screeched, wrenching away from Alphonse. "I'll kill those fuckers!"

"What happened?!" Al scrambled onto all fours, finding himself looking at an empty set of train tracks that lay before him. "What—?"

Then he noticed the blood and the footprints.

Three sets ran parallel to the tracks. At one point, one set disappeared, and farther down the line, the second set vanished. The third only remained for several running paces afterward.

Marcoh, May, and Delilah had jumped onto a train, one that was nowhere in sight.

"…She got away." Relief swept through Alphonse, and he lowered himself completely to the ground. "They all got away."

"Damn—!"

Envy, too enraged for words, drove his fist into the ground. The loud impact caused Al to raise himself to his knees. He watched the Homunculus for a moment as the creature raged. The satisfaction and relief of seeing Envy fail made Alphonse uncharacteristically giddy and reckless.

"You lost her," he called. "You lost all of them."

The Homunculus froze for a moment before he stood fully and turned to face Alphonse. Murderous ire filled Envy's violet eyes. He stalked toward Alphonse, who made no move.

Ed, who had been distracted by the Homunculus's scene, snapped out of his daze. "Al! Move!"

A second later, Envy reached Alphonse. In one swift motion, the Homunculus snatched the boy's helmet and threw it at Ed, who barely managed to avoid the projectile.

Envy turned back to Alphonse. "Did you know," he whispered, his voice hoarse and only barely reaching Al, "that whenever we had to get rid of idiot souls bound to objects—like you, and your friend, Sixty-Six—they would scream when we scratched off their blood seals?"

Alphonse sat still.

"Those we kept alive long enough said it hurt worse than being torn from their bodies," the Homunculus hissed, leaning toward the opening in Al's armor.

_"NO!"_

Edward was suddenly there, rushing in. He jabbed his bladed automail arm at Envy, impaling the Homunculus in the skull.

Envy became limp in less than a heartbeat.

Ed's eyes grew wide, and he thrashed his arm, dislodging the Homunculus from his gore-covered automail. Envy's body thudded against the ground; blood poured from a deep gash that spread from just above his ear to the middle of his eyeball. The wound began to sluggishly spark as his body worked to repair itself.

Alphonse stared at Envy, then looked to his brother.

Sweat slipped down Ed's face and dropped from his chin. "…Get your head, Al," he said, his voice rasping.

Alphonse hesitated.

Gluttony, panting, burst onto the scene. His beady eyes fell on Envy, but when he noticed the sparks emitting from Envy's body, he sighed in relief. "I thought you were like Lust."

Envy let out a groan at this point, and Ed's eyes narrowed.

"Your Father guy doesn't want you to kill us, so get outta here!" Spit flew from Ed's lips. "Leave us alone, dammit!"

Gluttony looked confused. "Envy was trying to kill the human sacrifices?"

Envy rubbed at his newly-healed head and slowly stood, making sure to back away a few feet. "…Yeah."

"But Father would be mad!" Gluttony's eyes widened. "What if he did to you what he did to Greed?"

Envy grimaced, then scowled. "…You'd better watch it. We still know where your other friend is."

Edward trembled with rage. "Don't you _dare _touch Winry!"

Annoyance remained clear on Envy's face, but he merely walked toward Gluttony.

"I told you not to touch her!" Ed screamed.

Envy, frustrated, glanced over his shoulder. "Didn't Wrath tell you that her fate is entirely up to you?" He turned back to Gluttony, who looked quite disappointed to not have a meal, and the Homunculi left.

The brothers were left alone; Alphonse still sat on his knees, and Edward looked like he was about to fall to his own. Al's head lay on the ground about ten feet away.

Ed drew in a shaky break after a moment. He clapped his hands and transmuted his automail back to normal before wiping the metal on his jacket. He didn't notice the blood splattered on his shirt and cheek. "…Let's get going, Al."

Al didn't move. "…This is all my fault."

Ed looked at him. "Al…"

The relief that Alphonse had felt had dissipated as soon as Envy had been stabbed. Even as shocked as he had been when the Homunculus had threatened to scratch of his blood seal, he had been comforted by the fact that Delilah and the others had escaped. But when Ed, who never wanted to kill anyone—not even a Homunculus, which couldn't really be killed—not easily, at least—had momentarily slaughtered Envy, the gravity of the situation had hit hard.

Ed had taken a life from Envy. Envy had disguised himself as Delilah. Delilah was probably wounded, and she and Marcoh and May were missing.

Edward knelt beside him. "This isn't your fault. They would've found Marcoh whether we were here or not, or Del."

"B-but…" Al's voice shook. He'd let Delilah down again. He'd lost her again. "This was supposed to be…"

"I know." Ed sighed and put a hand on Al's shoulder. "…If we ask the wrong people about where that train went, word could reach the Homunculi, and Winry could get hurt. Do you know where May said she and Marcoh were going?"

"…North," Al said. "Just north."

Ed nodded. "Let's lie low for a few days and wait to see if they come back or send a message. I think Del only knows the hotel number, so I'll stay there in case she calls. You stay at Knox's in case they come back there."

Alphonse fell further into his despair. "She doesn't have her things. Her medicine. She won't be able to sleep." _She'll have nightmares…._

Al's tone made Ed's face fall. "We'll wait for a few days. If nothing happens, we'll ask Mustang to keep an eye out or something, and then we'll head north to look."

The younger brother didn't respond.

"…Al." Ed narrowed his eyes. "What did Envy said to you?"

"…He was going to destroy my blood seal. He…he said it would hurt." Al shifted. "…I don't think I remember what that feels like."

Panic spread across Ed's face. "Don't touch it—!"

"Of course I'm not going to touch it!" Al's stress made him sound more forceful than he'd intended. He lowered his voice. "I'm not stupid."

Ed gave a sad smile. "I know." He stood and held out his hand. "Let's get going."

Alphonse stared at the gloved hand. "…Brother…?"

"What?"

Al looked away. "…He made himself look like her."

Perhaps Alphonse couldn't have the textbook definition of a nightmare, but he knew that the memory of that battle would never leave his nightly torments of thought.

()()()()()

Before Delilah even opened her eyes, she was aware of the ache in her muscles. She could remember running, running, and running, and then trying to climb into the metallic compartment of a moving train. It had hurt her chest. Everything had hurt her chest.

She tried to move a little, but her limbs felt flimsy and shaky.

"Are you awake?"

Delilah opened her eyes to see May sitting in front of her. The young girl looked relieved.

"You passed out right after we got on the train," she said. "Dr. Marcoh and I closed your wound again for you. He drew this really complicated circle that I've never seen before, so I don't think it'll open again."

Delilah nodded, too fatigued to give a verbal response, and looked down. Blood stained the front of her dress. She managed to lift one hand and felt along her skin, finding the rough patch that marked her scar. She supposed it would never go away.

"Are you feeling all right?" Marcoh asked.

Delilah blinked and glanced around the compartment, which was filled with boxes marked "FRAGILE GLASS," until her gaze fell upon the old man; he sat a few feet away, leaning against a crate.

"T-tired," she said, wanting to say more but unable to find the strength to do so.

Marcoh nodded. "Get back to sleep. I don't think this train will stop soon, anyway. Besides, you'll need your rest."

The way he said it sounded odd to Delilah. "…Why…?"

The old man sighed and nodded toward the slightly open doorway, which revealed the blur of the landscape as the train traveled past. "This is going southeast. If we want to make it up north in time to meet Scar, we can't afford any delay, and I'm not leaving you alone." Marcoh closed his eyes, his face falling. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with us."

* * *

_a/n: Literally, like, you guys always make my day. Every review and follow and favorite makes me so happy, you seriously cannot understand how much I love writing this story and being appreciated for it. You guys deserve happy things._

_Too bad I'm bad at giving you happy things._

_But really, like, I loved writing this chapter. I have a thing for awful occurrences. Yes, they're going their separate ways for now, but obviously not for forever. I'm not THAT cruel. (And trust me, if I did do that I'd actually cry myself to sleep. I've done it before because of another fic I wrote.) But I'm actually purposely splitting them up (again, whoops) to delve more into Delilah's development; she should be getting a lot of that. I don't know if we'll return to Al's POV anytime soon, unfortunately. _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update as soon as possible~_


	36. Chapter 36

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. Only my own OCs and this fic. Don't profit. I am my own non-profit organization._

* * *

Thirty-Six

Delilah's brows furrowed. "…What?"

"You have to come with us," Marcoh said. He looked more tired than Delilah had ever seen him.

"I…" She struggled to think straight. Her head felt foggy, and for a moment she had been sure that she hadn't heard him right. But his expression sagged, his eyes falling to the floor, and fear sunk into her heart.

"Um…Delilah?" May scooted toward her and reached for her hand. "Please don't cry."

"I-I—" A sob broke through her speech, and she wiped at her eyes. Her hands were clumsy with fatigue. "Y-you're lying. I-I just…I just got back to them and…"

"I'm sorry, Delilah," Marcoh said. "But—"

_"I just got back to them!" _

Silence stretched between them. Now Delilah's throat hurt along with the throbbing in her head. She did her best to move so that she was leaning her side against the steel wall and not her back, so that she wouldn't have to look at either May or Marcoh, but she only made it halfway before a fierce trembling of exhaustion prevented her from progressing.

May moved closer to her and touched her arm. "You…you need to rest."

Delilah stared at the floor and shook her head.

"Please? Shao May will sleep with you." May plucked the panda from her shoulder and held the rather reluctantly concerned animal out to Delilah.

Delilah suddenly looked up and turned her head around, but ignored May and the panda. "Let me go back to Central. Please."

Marcoh shook his head. He looked guilty. "I can't. You're injured and we don't have the time to take you there."

"I can ride a train by myself. I know you healed me that well."

"Even if I let you go, we don't have any money."

"I can call Edward and he'll buy me a ticket! Or I can wait somewhere and they'll come get me!"

"You saw those Homunculi. I'm not leaving you alone anywhere. They could be after us for all we know."

"But—!"

"I'm not losing you again, Delilah!" Marcoh snapped.

She drew back in surprise, unnerved by his harsh tone. She looked down and wiped at her eyes.

"The Homunculi kept me in the dark about everything going on outside," the old man went on, still somewhat harsh, but quieter. "But Envy would tell me about how he was going to kill you. The only way I knew he hadn't, was because he didn't gloat. But he threatened you and the village, and whenever he left I had no idea whether he'd come back later with your corpse or their corpses or both."

Another pause settled among them.

"…That's why I want to go back," Delilah said finally. She rested her head against the wall and looked away. "I'm worried about them. A-and I don't feel safe here without them."

She thought about Ed's playful tones and Al's sincere gestures. About their kind, supporting words, their jokes, and their laughter. About how somewhere along the way, Ed had become the older brother she'd never had and Al had become special to her. She wanted to be back with them, even though they attracted danger like it was a good thing.

Marcoh shifted. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you—"

She whipped her head back around. "I'd rather take my chances going to them than be here with someone who destroyed human lives!"

He recoiled.

"I…" She felt flooded with guilt, paralyzed. "I-I didn't mean that."

He shook his head. "…No. You have a point." He stood, steadying himself by placing a hand on the crates, and shuffled toward the opposite end of the compartment, near the open door.

"I'm sorry!" Her tears began to stream down her face more quickly than before. "I didn't mean it!"

"…Get some rest," was all he said before he settled down by the door.

"I—"

She didn't know what to say, so she broke herself off. She leaned her head back against the wall. She hated how it was too cold, how it rattled and jarred against her aching head. She wished everything would stop. She wished the wall were Alphonse's arm, or his chest. She wished she were with him, somewhere far away.

"…Um, Delilah?"

Delilah looked up and looked to see that May still sat in the same spot next to her. A look of concern rested on her face, and Shao May, perched on her master's shoulder, peered curiously at Delilah.

"…What?" the older girl asked.

May's brow furrowed. "Do you care about Alphonse a lot?"

The question confused Delilah. She thought she'd heard the girl wrong. "What?"

"Well…it's obvious that he cares about you," she said. "Do you feel the same?"

If Delilah were a different sort of person, she would have gotten angry at May for simply trying to talk to her when she had just argued with Marcoh, when she was this upset. Still, Delilah stared at the girl for a long moment before nodding slowly.

May smiled. "Then I'm sure you'll see each other again."

"…What do you mean?"

"There's a story in my country. My mom liked to tell it to me when I was younger." The girl held out both of her hands, extending her pointer fingers upwards. "All marriages are preordained by a god named Yue Xia Lao. These people are connected by a red string of fate from the moment they're born. The string can get twisted and stretched," she said, moving her fingers apart to illustrate her point, "but it always leads the lovers back to each other, whether they've met yet or not. It means that people are destined to meet, or to meet again." She moved her fingers back together and linked them. "It also means that they're always connected somehow."

Delilah stared at May for a moment in silence. "I'll…I'll see him again?"

May nodded. She looked down, appearing a little shy and quiet. "It can also apply to family. It makes me a little happy, thinking that I'll be home someday once I find what I'm looking for."

"…Then I'm sure you'll get home," Delilah said.

May smiled. "I know. But, um," she went on, "I think for now you need to rest. You look really tired."

Delilah nodded. Her head may have been full, but it was also fuzzy with fatigue and dreariness. "Thank you, May," she said, leaning her head back against the wall and closing her eyes.

"You're welcome," the girl replied brightly.

Delilah could only slip into a light doze, but when she dreamed, she dreamed of red string.

()()()()()

Delilah, her dress and body now clean due to alchemy, carefully lowered herself from the train car while Shao May kept a watchful eye at the darkness from the top of May's head. The older girl was the last to descend from the compartment, and once her feet touched the ground, the trio of alchemists scurried through the train yard; Marcoh led the way.

Delilah glanced at the old man. She hadn't spoken to him since their argument. Her relief upon finally seeing him again had dissolved into doubt and worry. For one, she had no idea how to act around him now that she knew what Philosopher's Stones were made out of, and secondly, she had no idea what to say to him about what had happened to her, what she had discovered. He deserved to know, but she feared how he would react.

She also found it a little hard to forgive him for forcing her along with them, even if he was in the right.

She thought once again about how Edward and Alphonse had stood up to the Homunculi so that they could escape. Her eyes watered, and she wished she weren't so useless and unable to know what had happened. She wished she weren't so weak.

May hurried ahead and held out her arm, stopping the tiny group. The few lamplights in the area allowed for Delilah to make out the slight shake of the head that the alkahestrist made. Delilah stayed quiet, struggling to listen, and after a moment she picked up the sound of footsteps.

A guard.

May signaled with her hand, and the trio tiptoed forward until they came to a break between cars. The young girl led them through the gap, but paused to watch for the guard. Light emitted from an area down the line of cars, revealing a man's silhouette. May studied him for a moment, then signaled once more, this time moving more quickly. Delilah and Marcoh followed her to the next line of cars; they kept repeating the actions until they came to a tall chain link fence that separated them from someone's backyard. No light shone from the windows.

Marcoh made a face. "We can't climb this. And the light from the transmutation might give us away," he whispered.

"But we have to," May said quietly. "A small one, at least, just to get through."

"I can do it," Delilah whispered. She knelt down and put her gloved hand to the fence, and she visualized the iron in her mind. The fence sparked as her alchemy took effect, and soon a round hole had been made.

The trio stilled for a moment, listening for the guard, but there was no noise.

Delilah slipped through the hole first, then May, then Marcoh, and Delilah closed the break, being careful to make the final product look as natural as possible.

May peered at the house as Delilah worked. "…I don't think anyone's inside. I don't feel any chi."

"Chi?" Marcoh echoed.

May put a hand to her lips and led the way to the back door of the house. She tried the handle and looked unsurprised to find it locked. She motioned to Delilah, since the girl wouldn't leave any chalk traces with her alchemy. Delilah hesitated, nervous about breaking in and trespassing, but put her hand to the handle and used her alchemy. A small click could be heard as the lock shifted. Delilah slowly opened the door and led the way inside.

The hallway they came into was cramped and slightly dusty. A worn carpet lined the floor, and a few doorways led off to other places, presumably to the kitchen and living room, and maybe a stairwell to the second floor. Midnight moonlight streamed in from the curtain-covered window in the front door at the end of the hall.

"Are you sure no one's here?" Marcoh asked.

May nodded, but remained quiet as she traversed the hallway. "The chi feels stale. I guess they're on vacation?"

Marcoh frowned but closed and locked the door. Delilah felt skeptical as well, but didn't question May. There were no sounds of life anywhere, anyways. Still, she felt _wrong _standing in someone else's house without permission. She knew they needed a place to rest to get their bearings, though, so she didn't complain.

May disappeared into one of the rooms, and Marcoh and Delilah, not wanting to lose sight of her, hurried after. The little girl poked her nose all over the kitchen, stirring up bits of dust so that the motes caught in the light streaming in from the window. Whenever May found a morsel of food, such as an aging apple or a box of crackers, she would bring it to the table.

The sight of food—as meager as it looked—caused Delilah to realize how hungry she felt. "…Are we eating that?" she asked, unnerved about eating someone else's food even though she felt starved.

Marcoh sighed as if he shared her sentiment, but approached the pile. "We have to. May and I already knew this. We hardly have any money, and I assume you're the same."

She actually had no money at all, but she didn't say anything.

The doctor grabbed a small box of crackers and frowned. "I'm still nervous about this place. Let's check it out. If there isn't anyone, we'll get some blankets and sleep together in the living room."

The girls quickly agreed, and together they searched the house, both the lower and upper floors. There weren't any sounds or signs of life anywhere, aside from the scuttle of a mouse or two. The pictures on the walls depicted a small family—a rather thin man, a plump woman, and a petit girl that appeared to be their daughter. All of the rooms were clean and free of clutter, and if it weren't for the pictures on the walls and the clothes in the closets, Delilah would have wondered if the house was for sale.

After finding nothing threatening, the group gathered extra blankets from one of the closets and food from the kitchen. They all convened in the living room and ate a tiny meal in silence.

"We should take turns keeping watch, to make sure they don't surprise us if they come home," Marcoh suggested from where he sat in the only armchair. "In the morning we'll get some things from here and figure out where we are."

"I'll stay up," Delilah said.

The man sobered even further. "No medicine…?"

She didn't respond.

May shook her head. "No, you should sleep." She was sitting on the couch next to Delilah; with her words, the young girl shifted a little closer to the other. "You're still healing."

"I think I slept as much as I could on the train," Delilah said. "I can't sleep unless I'm exhausted or have my medicine. My thoughts keep me awake."

The alkahestrist frowned. "Well…try."

Delilah was still too tired and confused by the whole situation to smile, but she appreciated May's concern. "Thank you."

Throughout the night, May had been the perfect picture of awareness, but she betrayed herself with a yawn. She tried to pretend nothing had happened. "I'll take first—"

A stern look from Marcoh silenced her, and the man then sighed. "Delilah can take first watch."

An uneasy quiet fell over the group, and then May finally leaned back against the couch, letting her exhaustion show. "Goodnight," she wished. Shao May nestled on her shoulder, and the girl closed her eyes. Delilah couldn't help feeling envious at how swiftly the alkahestrist fell asleep.

Marcoh shifted, and the effects of the dim lighting on his now-grotesque face unnerved Delilah. It was as if reality was once again reminding her of how he wasn't the person she'd believed him to be.

"I'm sorry to drag you into all this," he said after a long pause. "I never thought things would turn out this way."

His words were stiff and half-broken, and she knew they were no better than strangers to each other now.

"…Would you still have sent me with them?" she asked. "If you had known we would get pulled into this?"

"If I had known…" Marcoh contemplated for a moment. "Part of me would have wanted to run away as Mauro, with or without you," he admitted finally. "But I wouldn't have done it. You…I wouldn't have abandoned you. And I won't." He let out a tired, gruff laugh. "And try as I might, I'm too old to run anymore."

"…I'm sorry about what I said." Delilah twisted her blanket in her hands. "I shouldn't have said that."

"But it reflects what you think, doesn't it?" he asked.

"…I was so worried about you that I didn't think about everything you lied to me about," she admitted. "So I don't know what to do or think."

He nodded slowly. "…I understand."

"…I know you're important to me, though," she said after a moment. "Otherwise I wouldn't have worried so much. I…I said once that I thought of you like you were my father, but right now, I…"

"It's okay." A sad smile spread across his face. "A lot has happened. We both need some time to get used to things."

Delilah almost laughed bitterly at the understatement. "Too much has happened, you mean."

Marcoh frowned at her tone. "What _did _happen?"

She grimaced. "Can…can we talk about that another time? When we're travelling or something? It…it's late."

He thought for a moment, then nodded. "But don't wait too long to tell me, okay? Keeping secrets isn't good for anyone, sometimes."

She remembered how guilty she had felt when she had refused to tell Alphonse what had happened to her. He had been concerned and frightened for her, but she had been too scared to open up. Neither of them had had a pleasant experience then, to say the least.

Marcoh settled back into his chair; she saw how fatigued and close to sleep he was. "I am glad I sent you with those boys, though."

The words pulled her out of her memories. "Because I was safe?"

"Because it's easy to see how much you all care for each other."

* * *

_a/n: So! Um. Short chapter, but don't worry, I have a nice omake for you. And guess what. Guess._

_I freaking wrote smut. AlxDel smut. Delphonse smut. A lemon._

_...Yup. Posted it, too._

_anYWAY um, sorry for the bit of a wait. I had a bunch of things I had to do for Latin club because nobody else would do it even though we have like 40 people. I ended up with a bunch of spray paint on my hands. And my feet. Somehow it didn't get on my clothes. And it all worked out because we won a bunch of awards at our convention 8D God I love winning things. Except I got a tick while we were on that field trip. *shudders*_

_Enjoy the omake! Sorry to make y'all way for me, again._

**omake/the adventures of Lustling pt. III**

Delilah blinked in confusion and looked around. Very suddenly, she wasn't on the train anymore—instead, she sat at a table in a festive cafe. Most of the other tables were occupied, and pleasant topics of conversation filled the air. A cold drink with an umbrella in it sat on the table in front of her.

"Where are we?"

She turned to see Alphonse sitting next to her. He looked around, confusion in his red eyes.

"Alphonse?"

He turned to her, then suddenly seemed to realize that she was okay. "Delilah!"

The two embraced, laughing with joy. Their happiness was so great that for a few moments they couldn't even form sentences. However, the emotion was palpable enough to break. And this was how it was broken:

"You two are going to have such cute babies."

Alphonse and Delilah paused and looked to see Lustling sitting across from them at the table. The Homunculus leaned his face on his hands, looking at them with—as Edward would put it—"that idiotic prince's closed-eyes smile of Xingese 'bastardliness.'" If it weren't for the Ouroboros tattoo on his collarbone, they would have thought that he was just Ling.

"God, I hope the author lets you have kids," he gushed.

The objects of his obsession were still frozen in a half-embrace. "What?" Al asked.

"Author?" Delilah echoed.

"Surely the author should let you have kids," Lustling went on, oblivious to their questions. "She did write a lemon."

Al sighed in exasperation. "What are you talking about, Ling?"

"It's _Lustling." _The Homunculus slapped his hand on the table for emphasis. He then frowned. "You don't know what a lemon is?"

"You mean…the fruit?" Delilah guessed.

Lustling blinked. "'Smut' ring any bells? The author likes that word better."

They stared at him.

"…I'm guessing that's a no."

"…I don't think I want to know what that is," Al said.

"Me neither," Delilah agreed.

Lustling grinned. "I think you do."

"I think I don't," Al said.

"Here." Lustling suddenly pulled out a manila folder and handed it to Alphonse, who reluctantly moved away from Delilah to take it. "Take a look. Be careful—the author signed it for me. It's a limited edition copy."

Alphonse sent the Homunculus a skeptical look before opening the folder and taking a look at the paper. Only several seconds in, his eyes widened.

Delilah tried to peer over his shoulder to get a look, but he was too tall. "What is it?"

He didn't answer. He scanned the rest of the page, then flipped to the next one. His steel face actually became red with embarrassment. No joke.

Lustling smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Like what you see?"

Al's hands started shaking. "Who wrote this?" His voice was dark, if somewhat high-pitched.

"I told you," Lustling said. "The author."

Al flipped through the rest of the pages, reading just a couple of lines, then came to the last page. "'To one of my greatest creations, Lustling. Love, Rose,'" he read aloud. He looked up at the Homunculus. "Rose? That woman we helped in Liore?"

Lustling suddenly burst out laughing. "That girl? No, no! The author doesn't just walk around in broad daylight like that. She's everywhere. She's watching us right now, listening to us. To everyone."

"You mean like…God?" Delilah asked.

_ "You could call me that," _a voice echoed through the cafe. Only Delilah and Alphonse reacted to the sound; they both stiffened and looked around. Lustling just laughed.

"What was that?!" Al asked.

Lustling leaned on one hand. "The author. She's not really supposed to do that. Good thing this is an omake and not the story."

Al's eyes widened. "Are you…_high_ or something?!"

Lustling ignored the question. He pointed to the folder that Alphonse still held. "So? You like it?"

"_L-like it?!_" Al sputtered.

Delilah furrowed her brow and stood, trying to peer over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"N-nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Alphonse twisted his body to put himself between her and the paper. "Nothing at all!"

She frowned, a little hurt. "What's going on?"

Lustling grinned. "You should show her, Al. You're both in it, anyway. Well," he went on, "one of you is a little more _in _it."

No joke—Alphonse's steel face blushed crimson again. He shook his head vehemently. "N-no, no!" He looked at the papers again, and in a split-second decision, hurriedly ripped them, folder and all, to pieces.

Lustling's jaw dropped. He stared at the spectacle, unable to move. For a moment, Delilah thought he was having a heart attack.

"My…my limited edition…" He slumped forward onto the table and started to drag himself slowly toward Alphonse. "My…m-my smut…"

"Alphonse!"

The boy, with the strips of paper wadded up in his hands, turned to Delilah. "W-what?"

She had never looked so livid. "How could you? That wasn't yours!"

"B-but…" He searched uselessly for words. A small slip of paper fell out of his hands, and before he could retrieve it, Delilah snatched it up.

"'We did it,'" she read aloud. She looked up in confusion. "Did what?"

Lustling started bawling.


	37. Chapter 37

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. If only, if only. I only own my own OCs and this plotline._

* * *

Thirty-Seven

Delilah stumbled into the bedroom after May; her eyes drooped, and weariness caused her muscles to twitch a little as she kept herself awake. She had managed to slip into a light doze the night before, since her exhaustion was so great, but her dreams had been dark and disorienting and had woken her up. All she wanted was to sleep, even though she wouldn't be able to if she tried, but time nipped at the group's heels.

May opened the closet door and frowned sadly at the dresses, skirts, and blouses that hung within. "These are all so pretty."

Delilah sighed. "I know." She thought of the girl in the photos on the walls and how she wore colorful clothes in every one. And now they were here to take some of those.

Despite May's sad temperament toward the clothes, she chose some garments of the brightest pink. Her face lit up a little as she picked the blouses, and Delilah could understand why: holding beautiful clothes and being able to keep them when one was poor was a dream among dreams. As guilty as Delilah felt to take things that weren't hers, things that were important to another person, she felt envious of the unknown girl and felt a twinge of satisfaction when she touched some of the dresses. The emotion was a little odd to her—last night, she'd hardly wanted to eat food that wasn't hers, but now that self-shame and guilt was muted, or at least ignorable.

Maybe it was because she felt too tired to care that much anymore.

"She even has hats," May said, reaching up to pull a sunhat off the wall rack where several hats hung. She put one on over her black braids and trotted over to the mirror. The hat had obviously been made at least somewhat expensively; the straw looked fine, and it had been formed with care.

"…I had a hat a little like that," Delilah said quietly. "I lost it." She hadn't even realized it, but her had had been gone for a while now. She remembered wearing it on the way to her mother's apartment, but she couldn't recall if she had left it on the table or if she had lost it in the rain. She had been too distressed and preoccupied to notice. She suddenly missed having it on her head.

May admired her reflection for a moment more before putting the hat back. She returned to the closet, and together the girls pulled out more clothes and laid them on the bed. They inspected their choices, and then set about transmuting the fabrics for size. They had already transmuted the blankets they had used the night before into coats, but they still needed layers.

Delilah's white dress had been made for the warm Eastern summers, so—while May wasn't looking—she removed the garment and transmuted it into a pair of pants to put underneath a rather pretty, long-sleeved beige dress of wool that descended to just past her knees. She didn't like how heavy it felt or how it restricted her arms a little, and she felt a little like she was pretending to be a grown up, but she knew that it would have to do for going north. All she needed now were boots of some sort, but Marcoh had pledged to find the materials for those.

"Do you think we should take hats?" May asked, looking once again toward the hats handing on the wall. Most were wide-brimmed, just asking to be blown away by the wind, but a few were made of wool and designed for winter.

"It would be a good idea," Delilah said. She approached the hats and grabbed a white one. She tried it on, and it fit snuggly over her head and ears. She took it off for the time being.

May stared at the hats for another moment before slowly shaking her head. "I'll make a hood for my coat. I don't want to take anything else."

The words made Delilah feel a little guilty for having the hat, but some sort of selfishness kept her from putting it back. She deserved clothes to keep her warm, didn't she? Especially after all the hell she'd been through.

She pushed away the nagging, semi-subconscious thought that she didn't even deserve to be alive.

"Hey, May," she said, trying to distract herself, "did you say you were looking for something?"

The alkahestrist nodded, her eyes brightening with determination. "I'm looking for the secret of immortality! It's the only way to make sure my clan gets any sort of power after our emperor—may he live forever—passes away. I heard the Philosopher's Stone is what I'm looking for."

May's declaration seemed to pierce Delilah's heart. She was reminded all too much of another Xingese traveler, one that Ed had said still had to be alive, even if his body belonged to a homunculus now. She hadn't thought about the prince much—she hadn't wanted to, not when the thought of him being _gone _was painful, even if she hadn't bonded to him like she'd bonded to Ed and Al.

"You sound just like Ling," she said quietly.

The Chang girl immediately stiffened. "You mean that Yao scoundrel whose clan looks at us like bugs?!"

Delilah recoiled a little in surprise. "What?"

May scoffed. "Ling Yao and his whole clan think they're _all that_ even though their clan isn't in high power. They're all rude and arrogant—" She went on a little more, slipping into her native tongue a couple times, and suddenly Delilah couldn't stand to hear anymore.

"Don't—don't talk about him like that," she said, struggling to keep herself from sounding harsh. "He…he might be…"

May paused. "You mean he's…?"

"M-maybe," Delilah managed to say. "Just…just stop talking about him. Please."

The alkahestrist frowned, seeming a little troubled, but didn't mention Ling again. "…I have to get the Philosopher's Stone," she said, returning to the original topic. "My clan is poor. As its princess, I _need _to gain favor with the emperor."

Delilah noticed the mention of royalty, and she remembered Ling explaining how the princes and princesses of all fifty clans were fathered by the emperor—so Ling and May were half-siblings. But bringing up Ling again wasn't something she wanted to do, so she blurted, "I want to find a Philosopher's Stone, too."

May blinked in surprise. "You do?"

"…Yeah." Delilah looked down at her feet for a moment. "I used to hate the mere idea of them when I found out what they were made of, but though I'd never make one, I _need _one. And…I figure using them for good rather than bad is the best thing."

"No one's told me what they're made from," May said. "Mr. Scar even said he didn't want me to get involved with them."

Delilah opened her mouth to respond, but froze.

"Are you okay?" May asked, noticing how tightly Delilah gripped the hat.

"Did you…say 'Scar'?"

"Yes." May frowned. "We're heading north to meet up with him. Is something—?"

Delilah spun on her heel and hurried from the room. "Doctor?!" she called. She rushed through the upper hallway, searching the rooms. "Doctor!"

"Delilah?" Marcoh, wide-eyed with panic, appeared at the top of the stairs. "What's wrong?"

The girl planted herself in the middle of the hallway. "We're going to _Scar_?"

Marcoh frowned nervously at her tone. "I thought I mentioned that back on the train."

She honestly couldn't remember if he had or not. Her head swam with fatigue, and her confusion about the murderer wasn't helping her. "You know he hurt Edward and Alphonse, right? That they were broken when we met them because of him."

The old man sighed. "Scar freed me, and he's a murderer because I experimented on his people to create the Stone. I'm in debt to him. We're heading north to collect his brother's research notes—his brother saw that something was wrong with Amestrian alchemy, and we're going to decipher his notes." He paused and tried to smile. "…Deciphering notes again, huh?"

She stared at him.

His face fell slowly.

She shook her head violently. "No." A red-hot rage built inside her, and she couldn't contain it. "_No! _This is _your _burden, not mine! I never made those things! I never hurt—!" She stopped short, then went on: "I never killed anyone! But you have, and Scar has, so I might as well just let you two be murderers together!"

Delilah stalked toward him, trying to pass him to get to the stairs, but he grabbed her arm. "Delilah, you're hurt and tired. This isn't like you."

"How do _you _know that? It's been months!" She roughly pulled her arm out of his grip, then stilled. "…He scares me," she admitted. "_You _scare me."

Marcoh froze.

"That's it."

The two paused and turned back to the hallway, where May stood. The little girl marched up to them and grabbed Delilah's hand to pull her down the stairs. Delilah, stunned, followed without resistance. May tugged her into the living room and stood her in front of the couch.

Then, with two fingers outstretched, May jabbed at Delilah.

A jolt coursed through the older girl's body; she dropped the white hat onto the floor, and her knees gave out—just about all of her muscles gave out. She collapsed onto the couch, too shocked to even mutter a sound.

Marcoh had followed them; May hurried and pushed him toward the chair before jabbing him, too. He fell into the chair, and May put her hands on her hips.

"You two are going to sit and talk about this—I _will _chi-block you again if I have to. I'll leave for now to see where we are and where we need to go, but if you two haven't made up by the time I get back, I swear—" She slipped into her native tongue again, but still managed to sound intimidating. She gave the both of them a warning glare, then disappeared into the hallway. The sound of a door opening and closing signaled her departure.

Delilah and Marcoh were left alone.

She tried to stand—she truly, honestly tried, but her arms and legs only twitched. She frowned in frustration and doubled her efforts, but her efforts only yielded the same results.

"It's no use, Delilah," Marcoh said. "It must be some sort of Xingese trick. I assume it'll wear off in a while."

His words irritated her. She wanted to get out of the damn house and get to the damn train station and find a damn telephone. She had to get back to Central. She'd walk back to Ed and Al if that was what it would take.

"…Delilah?" Marcoh said hesitantly when she didn't speak.

Her anger suddenly melted to fuel her other emotions, and the loss of rage made her feel small, made her sound small. "…I-I'm scared."

"What?"

"…I'm so scared of Scar," she murmured. "I've never even seen him, but I'm so afraid of him. Like I'm afraid of Envy and Gluttony and…and that man underneath Central… And I'm scared of you because I don't understand you anymore." She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm herself. "I only… I only feel safe around Alphonse and Edward and Winry and everyone and…I'm so scared without them. I'm even scared of myself—I'm so, so _scared _of myself. I thought I-I was okay for a little while, b-but I…"

She swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. "I'm so scared of everything," she whispered. "And I hate myself for it."

Neither spoke for several moments.

"Well," Marcoh said with a sigh, "there's something we have in common."

She frowned and furrowed her brow. "What?"

He nodded. "…I've found that there's always some reason to be scared. It's only natural. But that shouldn't stop us from doing what we want or have to do." He sighed. "I wish I could say that I've stuck to that rule, but I'm a coward. Not because I'm scared, but because I let my fears control me."

Delilah closed her eyes. "…I hurt someone, too."

"You?" Marcoh sounded surprised.

She nodded. She opened her mouth, but didn't speak. Couldn't.

Marcoh noticed her reluctance, and after a moment he began to speak. He started describing his time in Ishval during the war—he skipped over most of the carnage, but it was easy for Delilah to imagine. He talked about taking Ishvalans back to the fifth laboratory in Central and using them to make Stones, about how the faces of innocent men and women would flash in his mind in every single thought and nightmare, images that spurred him to hide his research and run. Images that haunted him no matter how far or how fast he went.

"It doesn't go away," he murmured. "Helping others with the Stone stopped some dreams, but not all." A small smile tugged at his lips. "Most of them went away when we worked together, though."

A small ray of happy memories—memories of simpler times—broke through the dreary atmosphere. Delilah smiled a little, too. "We didn't 'work together.' You were my father."

"…I suppose I was," he agreed. "…I still see you as a daughter."

She looked down. Her throat felt swollen.

His expression turned sad once more. "I'm sorry for keeping everything from you."

"…I would've done the same." She paused. "I…I did something terrible, and I tried to keep it from everyone, too."

"Keeping it secret doesn't help," Marcoh said. "Trust me."

Delilah took a deep breath and spoke toward her lap. "It was complete coincidence, but…I found my mother. She told me, um…that my father was her brother." Her face burned with shame and humiliation. "He raped her sometime before he went to fight in Ishval. He died."

Marcoh didn't gasp. He didn't recoil or look disgusted. He only looked sad and concerned. "What did you do?"

"…I pushed her. I don't…I don't think she'll wake up until I can get a Philosopher's Stone." A thought occurred to her, and she looked up sharply. "Don't you have one?"

He was already shaking his head. "The homunculi took mine. I'm sorry."

"…It's fine," she said, even though it wasn't.

"…It's such a goddamn awful thing," Marcoh muttered. "What any person can do to another person."

She could only nod.

"I suppose that's why there are doctors," he said, and the way he said it lifted her spirits, if only just a little. "But Delilah…," he went on, "I'm sorry, but we need to help Scar. I promise he won't hurt you—he doesn't want to hurt innocent people. You can see it. May's been with him for a lot longer than I have, and she's fine."

"Don't make him sound like a good person, because he isn't," she said sternly, quietly. "…He did that to your face, didn't he?"

Marcoh's scarred and saggy skin shifted as he frowned and reluctantly nodded. "My face was recognizable."

Delilah opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, a loud _slam_ came from the hallway, and May burst into the room; Shao May was clinging to one of her braids for dear life.

May panted and waved her arms with panic. "The family's home!"

Both Delilah and Marcoh furrowed their brows.

The alkahestrist's eyes widened, and she shook her arms with more frenzy. "I just saw them at the train station! You know—the people that live here?!"

_That _certainly made the two alchemists panic.

Delilah managed to surge to her feet, but when she took just one step, she collapsed onto the floor. She managed to break her fall with her arms, but her chin smacked against the wood floor, and she could taste blood in her mouth.

"Ahh! A-are you okay?!" May scurried to her side. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Your muscles still aren't working!" She rushed to draw a circle on the floor.

Delilah couldn't reply for a moment; she was too dazed. "I-I think I'm fine…" She tried to move her legs, but they wouldn't respond quickly or accurately. She belatedly realized that she had lied.

May activated the circle, and Delilah could feel some sort of energy jolt through her muscles. When the light from the transmutation faded, she hurried to her feet.

"Help me get Dr. Marcoh next to the circle," May urged, and the two girls grasped Marcoh's arms and pulled him to his feet. He could shuffle well enough, but they had to just about shove him to the circle. May used her alchemy, and a moment later he was shaking his limbs, getting used to moving them again.

"We need to get moving—we don't have time to cover our tracks," he said. He hurried to the couch a grabbed a backpack that he'd transmuted earlier; it contained very little, only a few food items, but when he lifted it, Delilah could hear the jangle of metal on metal.

"Do you have cens in there?" she asked.

He grimaced. "People always hide money behind the toilet."

She was about to say something—she wasn't quite sure what—but May tugged on their arms. "We have to go out the back door. I don't know when they're going to get here."

The trio rushed to put on the coats they'd left on the couch; Delilah hurried to grab the hat that she'd dropped, but she thought of the money Marcoh had taken and the clothes they'd taken, and she hesitated. She left it on the floor.

She wondered if she'd always been so selfish.

May grabbed her arm again and dragged her into the hallway, rushing to open the back door; Marcoh followed and closed it behind them. Being out in the daylight made Delilah feel vulnerable, even if there was no one around to see them. May tensed, obviously feeling the same, and glanced around before leading the way along the edge of the house.

"It'll look suspicious if we get caught cutting through backyards," May said quietly. "This is a really quiet street, so we should be fine if we get to the sidewalk and head to the station."

They reached the front edge of the house, and May peered around before hurrying across the front lawn to the sidewalk. Marcoh and Delilah followed quickly, and when they came to the edge of the road, they all slowed considerably and stood up extra straightly. Delilah imagined that they looked about as casual as Ed would in the same circumstance—that is, they probably looked suspicious as hell.

"So where are we?" Marcoh asked quietly.

"It's a town called Awrosut," May said. She kept an eye on the road. "It's in the East Area. The trains only go into Central and to East City. Our best option for heading north is to get on a train to East City and then head north all the way into some place called Egmurdicu; it's nearest to the mountains where Mr. Scar said he hid his notes."

Marcoh nodded. "I don't know how far we'll get with the money we have, but hopefully it shouldn't be too hard to catch a ride."

A faint rumbling caught Delilah's attention, and she looked to see a taxi driving down the road. She watched it, trying not to stare openly, and when it passed by, she almost flinched.

"It's those people," she said, glancing downward. The girl in the car had been laughing.

"Let's hurry," Marcoh said, and the group increased their pace. The station was in sight—it wasn't far away from the house they'd rested in—but time seemed to hold them in an icy grip; it almost felt like they were walking in place.

"So we're paying for tickets?" May whispered.

Marcoh nodded. "They'll be looking for people trying to catch rides after those people see we were there."

"Dr. Marcoh," May said hesitantly, "if you pay for the tickets, they'll definitely remember your face."

The old man put a hand to his cheek and frowned. "And they'll remember yours." He looked to Delilah. "Can you buy them?"

Her face wasn't old or scarred or that of a foreigner; she would be just another traveler buying tickets. She felt a little nervous at the thought of talking to an unassuming person, since she was technically a fugitive now, traveling with people trying to aid a mass murderer, but she found herself nodding.

While they walked, Marcoh took off his backpack and reached in, pulling out a wad of bills. "Three for East City," he said, as if she didn't already know.

She accepted the money, and at this point they came to the front door of the station. Delilah tensed as they entered; there weren't a whole lot of people, but being in the midst of all the hustle made her more nervous. May tapped her arm and pointed out where the ticket booth stood, and Delilah took a deep breath before heading over.

The salesperson couldn't have been that much older than Ed; he looked rather bored, even though he had a book lain out in front of him. He looked up with slightly glazed eyes as Delilah came up. "Where're you goin'?"

Delilah looked to the sign next to the ticket booth; it showed the prices for children and adult tickets to both East City and Central City. It would only cost her a few cens more to go west.

"What am I doing?" she muttered to herself.

"Miss?" the boy asked, looking just a bit impatient.

"I need three tickets for East City," she said at last. "Please."

* * *

_a/n: I miss Alphonse. *sinks into despair*_

_I know it's a lot of talk right now, but stick with me. I've been spending my spare time plotting out the details of the rest of the fic (and I'm not done with that yet), and I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm not even half done with this story yet. And oh my gosh - in about a month, this fic'll have it's one year anniversary. I'm planning on changing the cover of this fic sometime soon, because I've commissioned one of my friends to draw Delphonse for me (it'll be six bucks well spent; she's amazing and I'm going to freaking hang it on my wall I swear to god)._

_Summer starts for me in a few days, but I have to earn money and do AP work for three classes, but I'll work on this whenever possible! Thanks for sticking around, guys. *showers everyone with hugs and sparkles and happy things*_


	38. Chapter 38

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this fic. Thank you and good day._

* * *

Thirty-Eight

Alphonse stood among the crowd. He turned his head around as if he was looking for something.

Delilah blinked, and he disappeared.

A small sigh of disappointment and frustration escaped her. She rubbed at her bleary eyes. "I'm starting to see things."

Marcoh looked at her with concern. "Sit back and try to get some rest."

She leaned back against the hard seat and rested her head against the window. She watched the multitude of people in the station as they walked here and there, some hurrying to get on the train while others sat on benches. She thought she saw flickers of blonde, like Ed's golden hair or Winry's straw-colored locks, but she couldn't be sure.

"Close your eyes," Marcoh said, a little sternly.

She frowned slightly but did as she was told. Instantly, she felt a little quieter, a little sleepier, but she could still hear whispers in the back of her mind. They sounded like _am I being stupid _and _why am I doing this _and _I miss them so much._ The noises echoed softly at first, but grew louder with each passing moment until she opened her eyes.

Marcoh sighed. "Try. It's better than you passing out."

"Would you sleep better if Shao May was with you?" May asked, plucking the panda from her shoulder and holding her out to Delilah.

The older girl smiled a little at the panda. "If she doesn't mind." She held out her hand, and Shao May sniffed hesitantly at her fingers before scurrying up her arm and sitting on her shoulder. Delilah lightly scratched under her chin. "Thank you, May," she said.

The little girl smiled. "You're welcome."

"How long will it take to get there?" Delilah asked Marcoh.

The old man shrugged. "A couple hours. But we won't be resting anywhere, so you should really get some sleep if you can."

Delilah let out a small sigh and closed her eyes again. "I'll try."

Sleep was hard to come by, but it did eventually come.

()()()()()

_She couldn't smell the blood, but she knew she was wading in it. She couldn't see it, either. She couldn't see much of anything except for the numerous pairs of glowing eyes that rested just above the thick lake like they belonged to rats._

_ She tried to ignore them. She had to get through this place—Gluttony's stomach, she thought it was. Edward was probably somewhere ahead of her. Ling, too. _

_ Of course, that meant Envy had to be in the same place, too._

_ The thought crossed her mind, and she instantly became frigid with terror. Her limbs locked up, and her breaths came in ragged gasps. The pairs of eyes around her started moving, the sound of sloshing blood accompanying their scurrying. The creatures squeaked and screeched—they were definitely rats—and she flinched at the sounds._

_ She might have screamed, because someone called out to her, and a huge shape appeared from the darkness. She had trouble recognizing it at first, but then her heart soared. She rushed to Alphonse, reaching out to him._

_ He stopped short and roughly grabbed her arm._

_ "What have you done with her?!" he yelled. His eyes were narrowed with malice. "Give her back!"_

_ She frowned, confused and afraid. She didn't speak. She tried to pull her hand away, but he held her too tightly. She pulled harder, but before she could make any progress, she noticed something._

_ Her arm was green and squirming as humanoid forms crawled through her skin._

Delilah's eyes flashed open, and her chest heaved as she fought for breath.

"Are you okay?" Marcoh reached over and touched her arm.

She flinched and pulled away, then froze for a moment and shook her head. "Sorry. Just a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" May offered, a concerned look on her face. "Talking about it can help."

Delilah shook her head before May even finished speaking. "I don't remember much about it," she lied. She could remember almost everything.

May frowned, but didn't push the issue. Shao May had jumped off Delilah when the girl had woken, and the panda was now rested on the alkahestrist's shoulder. There was a prolonged silence, and May looked past Delilah, out the window. Marcoh eventually did the same.

Delilah stared at her lap for a long while. Her heartbeat slowly became normal again, and her breathing regulated, but her mind was racing. She thought of the darkness and Alphonse and the grotesque form of her arm, and she only barely kept herself from shivering.

"May?" she said finally, trying to distract herself, "can you teach me about alkahestry?"

The little girl tore her gaze away from the flashing scenery outside the window and turned to Delilah. "You want to learn?"

Delilah nodded. "I've wanted to learn about it since I heard about it. My alchemy is medicinal, too." She held out her hand, her palm facing upward. "I made this to help me perform healing alchemy quickly."

May and Marcoh leaned forward to peer at the transmutation circle. The doctor pointed at one of the runes. "This looks a little bit off. It's supposed to be less angular." He pointed to another spot. "There's supposed to be a rune here—it's not particularly important, but you should put it on."

Delilah nodded, putting the information away for another time. She looked to May. "So, would you mind teaching me?"

"Of course not!" May smiled. "I'd be happy to. Let's see…" She put her hand on her chin in thought. "Do you know about the Dragon's Pulse?"

Delilah shook her head.

"It's the fundamental idea behind alkahestry," May explained. "It's the idea that chi—a sort of perpetual energy—flows through all things, living and nonliving. Alkahestrists are trained to not only detect this flow—most anyone in Xing can do that—but they also learn how to manipulate it. That's why alkahestrists are known for their healing abilities—they're able to manipulate the chi in a person to heal the wound."

Delilah wasn't used to the idea of the Dragon's Pulse, but she could follow well enough. "Alchemists use the shifting of tectonic plates for our energy. The doctor and I use that energy to stimulate tissue into repairing itself."

May frowned. "Does that work well?"

"…Well, it works well enough," Delilah said. "I'm not sure how big a difference there is in the outcome of our two alchemies."

"Ours works well especially if you have a Stone," Marcoh added quietly. "I assume you think alkahestry is better, May?"

The girl shook her head. "I just don't know the details behind your alchemy, that's all. But…that man, underneath Central… His chi felt off. I mean…his chi was awful. And it just…_overpowered _everyone in the room except me and Scar."

"You mean when he blocked our alchemy," Delilah said quietly.

May nodded. After a moment of silence, she said, "I can show you how to do alkahestry when we're off the trains. It's a bit crowded in here and we don't want to draw attention."

Delilah smiled a little. "I'd like that."

()()()()()

Roughly half an hour later, the train pulled into East City Station. The building was a bit smaller and less grand than its counterpart in Central, but Delilah was still impressed by the structure. She bought the tickets to go north—they could only afford to get to a city called New Optain, a place still well within the border of the East Area. The trio resigned itself to the fact that part of the journey would have to be spent in discomfort.

They had a solid chunk of time left before their train was due to leave, so they ventured into the city to buy nonperishable food. They saved some money for when they would get to New Optain, if they needed more supplies. They hardly had any money left by the time they got back to the station, though. The tickets had been more expensive than they'd expected.

The group came to a bench and sat down to wait for the train to pull into the station. Delilah closed her eyes, wishing she could rest, but the memory of her dream still lingered in her mind like some sort of sour aftertaste. Just the thought of the green, wriggling skin made her want to vomit. The thought of Alphonse's harsh tone made her want to vomit, too.

She opened her eyes, blandly scanning the crowd. She wanted to distract herself from her thoughts. She wanted to confide in someone, but thought again of the green arm and the blood and the darkness and the rats, and she wished she could just forget it.

Her gaze drifted over the far end of the station, and she stiffened.

Marcoh noticed her actions and frowned. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head and forced herself to relax. Her gaze lingered on the payphones.

The doctor followed her line of sight. "…Do you know a number to call?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. Some sort of heavy feeling loitered in her chest, and she felt like she was sinking a little.

Marcoh said nothing, but grabbed the backpack and opened one of the compartments. He pulled out something.

"We probably have ten minutes before the train gets here," he said, holding out a few cen coins. "And we're getting on as soon as it gets here—okay?"

Delilah stared at the money for a moment. She knew a few coins couldn't really buy anything, but she didn't want to use up what little money they had. At the same time, the urge to grab the money was hard to ignore. She wanted to use it more than anything else at the moment.

"Take it," Marcoh said quietly. "And just talk with them."

Delilah hesitated, then nodded and accepted the coins he handed to her. She stood and hurried across the station to the payphones, making sure to choose one that was far away from where a woman was already using one.

She took a breath, recalling the number into her mind, and inserted the correct amount of coins into the slot. She carefully turned the wheel on the rotary phone, and soon the line started to ring.

A man answered. _"Amestrain Military Hotel. How may I help you?"_

"Are—?" Her voice broke, and she coughed for a moment. "Are the Elric brothers there?" Her heart hammered with anticipation.

_"I'm sorry," _the attendant said. _"Mr. Elric just left about ten minutes ago, and I'm afraid his brother isn't staying with us at the moment. May I ask who is calling?"_

For a moment, she didn't breathe. Why wasn't Alphonse with Edward? Had something happened back at the train yard? Had Alphonse been hurt? Had he been kidnapped again, like what happened with Greed?

_"Excuse me?"_

"O-oh, I'm sorry. Um, I'm Delilah Heywood—I'm a…a friend."

_"Would you—oh, hold on a moment." _There was a pause. _"Mr. Elric left instructions for us in case you called and he wasn't here. He left a number." _He recited the number slowly, and she ran it through her head a few times to memorize it.

_"Mr. Elric only said that you should call that number if he wasn't here, miss. Would you like me to leave him a message for you?"_

"Just…just 'thank you' and that I'll see him as soon as I can. Thank you, sir."

_"No problem, miss." _He hung up.

Delilah pressed the button on the phone to disconnect the call. She hesitated for a moment before she inserted more coins, but only because she wasn't sure what to expect from the call. The number could be to Mustang's office or to the Rockbell's or to Izumi's, for all she knew, and she had no idea what she would say in any of those scenarios.

What if something serious had happened to Alphonse—what if this call brought her to her knees?

She remembered Marcoh's words about how he had let himself be controlled by his fear. She took a deep breath and dialed the number. The line rung only twice before someone answered.

_"Hello?"_

The voice was instantly recognizable, but she was too stunned to say anything.

_"Hello?" _There had been a desperate hope in the voice, but now it had been replaced with a disappointment that was barely masked by politeness. _"This is Dr. Knox's house. Are you looking for him?"_

"…Alphonse?" she whispered.

There was a pause.

_"Delilah?" _Al's voice was small and questioning, but a moment later, his tone escalated with excitement. _"Delilah! Are you okay? Is it really you? Where are you? Are you okay?"_

His words babbled out of the receiver, and she put a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the odd combination of laughs and sobs coming from her throat.

_"Are you crying?" _he asked, still panicked. _"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"_

"N-no, nothing's wrong," she said, wiping at her eyes. She coughed in attempt to make her voice sound less splintered. "I-I'm just really happy to hear you."

_"…I am, too." _He paused. _"Is it…is it really you?"_

"Me, and not Envy?" she asked quietly.

_"…Yeah." _His voice hitched.

Delilah closed her eyes for a moment. "We're both lonely insomniacs," she said finally, blushing a little. It felt odd to say such a thing into a phone instead of face-to-face.

_"…We are." _He sounded pained. _"I…I can't believe it's you. Are you okay?"_

"Yes, it's me. I'm just tired. What about you?"

_"I'm worried about you," _he said at once. _"I miss you."_

"I miss you, too." Suddenly, all her emotions—stress, longing, loneliness and sadness—surged over her, and though she tried to hold it all back, she started to sob.

_"Delilah? Please don't cry." _Al sounded on the verge of tears himself, if that were possible. _"Please stop. Please tell me you're okay."_

"W-why does this always happen?" she asked, stammering as she tried and failed to keep her voice level. "Why d-do we keep losing each other?" For a moment, her tears were so thick that she couldn't see. "I…I m-miss you so much!"

_"Tell me where you are," _he begged. _"I'll come to you. I won't leave you. I promise I won't."_

Delilah shook her head even though he couldn't see her. "E-East City. I'm…I'm going north with May and the doctor, though. To the mountains. I-I miss you, but I…I can't leave him, and he wouldn't let me go if I tried."

_"What—?"_

"I'm sorry, Alphonse." Her voice shook. She clutched the receiver with both hands, as if she were holding onto him.

_"Delilah, please—"_

"I can help them," she said, cutting him off. She didn't want to hear Alphonse sound so hurt. "Remember…remember when we couldn't do alchemy? They think there's a way to find out what happened and to stop it from happening again. The doctor said that Scar told him—"

_"Scar?!"_

Delilah froze.

Alphonse launched into a series of frenzied questions, and someone tugged on Delilah's sleeve, distracting her. She looked down to see May; the little girl looked guilty about intruding upon the conversation, but she pointed to the platform, where a multitude of passengers had started to board a train. Marcoh stood a little ways away from the crowd, waiting for the two girls.

Delilah turned her attention back to the conversation. "Alphonse?" He didn't seem to hear her and kept talking. "Alphonse!"

His stream of words stopped for a moment. Then: _"Please don't go."_

He sounded broken. She felt broken. "I…I have to. The train's here. But—but listen," she said, her voice becoming strong as she remembered the story May had told her the other day, the one about the red string. "I _will _see you again. I _know _it."

_"But… Please don't go, Delilah. Please don't go. Just…just stay there and I'll come get you."_

"Alphonse…I-I'm going."

_"I'm sorry!" _he cried. _"I'm so sorry! Just don't go! Please!"_

She closed her eyes. Her heart hurt. "I-I'm sorry, Alphonse. We'll see each other again. Please…please don't worry."

_"Delilah!"_

"I'm sorry." As hurt as she felt, as hurt as he sounded, she didn't want to hang up yet. She didn't know when she would hear his voice again. "I'm sorry for doing this to you. You can blame me if you want."

_"Del—!"_

She slammed the receiver down and wondered if it would have been better to not have called anyone in the first place.

* * *

_a/n: Ah, angst. This is more like it._

_*huddles in the corner and cries*_

_I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I had the urge to update tonight, and I wanted the phone conversation to be the last scene of the chapter so I could make you all cry. I also don't quite know when I'll be able to update next because I start my summer work soon, and I also got the new Animal Crossing: New Leaf game (omg does anyone want to be my friend I named my person Winry and my town is called Xerxes it's going to be the shit even though this is my first time playing Animal Crossing ever, and I also got this cool Hero Cap so I look like Link running around catching butterflies and my town flag is Al's blood seal), so I'll be busy. I do have something important that I wanted to share, though._

_Insomniacs will be one year old on July 12th! I'm planning to upload an extra-long, special omake on that day (full of fluff and laughs and all the good stuff), but I also wanted to include, just for giggles, a Q&A for the characters. So, ask away! You can talk to Delilah or Al or Ed or whoever you want (even Lustling!). Try to keep questions PG-13, please. You can ask questions for in-fic canon (is that called fanon or what I'm blanking), or ooc, or just plain whatever. _

_I might update between now and then, but I just wanted you all to be able to submit questions so I have time to write them in and have everyone answer them._

_Have an awesome day, guys!_


	39. Chapter 39

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this fic. Me no profit-o._

* * *

Thirty-Nine

_There was a deep, sharp pain in her chest. It came from something cold and metallic and coated with her blood—something that made her afraid._

_ "It's my fault," she heard herself say, as if she was there experiencing the pain but only able to listen to herself through a telephone. "I'm sorry. Blame me."_

_ Someone said something, maybe her name, but she couldn't be sure. She reached toward the spike, intending to drive it deeper into her chest even though she was so scared, but then she caught sight of her green, monstrous skin._

Delilah jolted awake, her heart racing as she dug her fingers into the fabric of her clothes.

It took her several moments to become calm again. When her breathing had settled, she surveyed the cramped freight compartment that Marcoh had decided was safe enough to ride into the North Area. Steel beams were the cargo, all of them long and thin, piled high. Marcoh and May were asleep, both of them leaning into corners formed by the steel beams and the steel walls. Only Shao May was awake; Delilah tried to smile at the small panda, but the creature didn't buy her fake sincerity.

Several long days had passed since they had left East City. As expected, they had run out of money after spending the rest on supplies in New Optain. Delilah couldn't help but think that two people could have made the money last all the way to Edmurdicu.

She had only been able to sleep a handful of times—she could only sleep because her body was so exhausted from her slow recovery—but never for more than a few hours at a time. And every time she slept, she found herself in a nightmare.

Each dream had a different situation, each one fuzzy to her waking mind, but she could always remember the parts that remained similar throughout. Alphonse was always there, sometimes helping her and sometimes hindering her. He always said something, usually phrases from their phone conversation, though. His voice in her dreams echoed even more than his voice in person, like he was speaking to her from a distance.

However, as awful as it was to have Alphonse be in her _nightmares _of all things, there was something even worse that tugged with icy fingers at her mind.

Her dreams always ended the same—with that green, hideous skin in her sight. She only saw the horrid faces and bodies in that flesh when her own arms would appear in her dreams. Logically, she knew the disgusting limbs had to be hers, but she wasn't willing to accept that, even if her dreams were only dreams.

Delilah pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I wish you were here," she muttered, closing her eyes and thinking of Alphonse.

()()()()()

"So, you don't really have runes for your circles?" Delilah asked.

May shook her head. "No, we do. We just don't use them often. Some of the inner patterns in our circles can be complicated, but the five-pointed star is the most common form in alkahestry. The five points represent the five elements in Xingese culture: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These elements relate to the chi around us and within us, so technically this star is really all we need."

Delilah nodded, turning the information over in her mind as they walked. They'd finally reached Edmurdicu that morning, and now, at midday, they had left the small city and had ventured into the cold frontier of the north. Their trek was slow-going, given Delilah's condition and Marcoh's old joints. The snow was deep, the wind was biting, and the trio had taken to talking in order to take their minds off the harsh trip.

"You're able to do long-range alchemy, right?" Marcoh asked.

"Yup. It has to do with the flow of chi, and how it can flow everywhere." May pulled out one of her knives. "I have to use these to direct the chi of my transmutation, though, or else the energy could go anywhere."

"What would that do?" Delilah asked.

May looked a little embarrassed but laughed as if she was remembering something fond. "Usually just a huge mess. It depends on what you're trying to do."

Marcoh smiled a little and looked up at the sun. "Do you two want to break for lunch? We've been walking for a while."

The girls agreed, and soon they cleared a space under a pine to sit and rest. They split equal shares of bread and an apple each. They didn't talk much, only relaxing in silence and letting their muscles take a break. When Marcoh had finished eating, he stood and excused himself for a few minutes. May and Delilah took the time to assess their remaining supplies.

The younger girl cast a glance at the older. "Delilah?"

Delilah noticed her hesitation. "Yes?"

"Um…can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Delilah smiled at her, remembering her own hesitation to ask questions of others. May had been extremely supportive of her, and Delilah wanted to be supportive in return. "You're my friend, May."

The alkahestrist blushed a little. "Well…you've never told me about why you want a Philosopher's Stone. If…if you're okay with telling me, I'd like to know."

Delilah paused for a moment. "…I need it because I need to fix a mistake I made. I, um…didn't mean to, but I pushed my mother and hurt her. I don't know if or when she'll wake up." She didn't mention the other reason she wanted a Stone.

May put a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"…No, it's fine." Delilah busied herself with looking through the backpack.

May looked down at her lap. "I don't know what I would do if that happened to me…. I miss my mom a lot. And the rest of my clan. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to them."

Delilah slowed her movements. "…I wish I had a reason like you do," she said. "You're trying to help your people. I think that's great."

May looked confused. "But you're trying to help your mom."

Delilah shook her head. "No. I'm trying to help myself."

()()()()()

Traveling remained slow-going. The snowy, hilly terrain made walking difficult, but Delilah was just grateful that they weren't wading through a sea of blood. Marcoh had to repeatedly check and map that Scar had marked up for them, but by nightfall, the trio finally stumbled upon a lone, dilapidated shack among the woods. They all hurried inside and searched the floor, digging in certain spots until May called out.

Soon, they had dug out a rough, wooden box. Marcoh opened it to reveal an old notebook with a worn, brown cover and pages that were bound together by string. He ran a hand over it.

"These notes fuse alkahestry and alchemy, right?" Delilah asked.

May nodded, her eyes bright with excitement. "I wonder if there's a method to immortality in here."

"We'll see." Marcoh frowned. "I'm more worried about whether this book will be one of hope or one of despair."

Delilah smiled, but it was empty. "It's late, doctor. We can't decipher anything if we can't see the pages."

Marcoh glanced outside as if he had only just noticed the time. "…You're right. We should get some sleep."

()()()()()

_"Please get up, Alphonse," she begged._

_ Alphonse lay scattered in broken pieces on the ground. He made no move, nor any sound._

_ "Please get up!" she screamed. She stumbled to her feet and looked around, hardly noticing her surroundings. "Edward! Help, please! _Edward!_"_

_ No one responded. She turned back to Alphonse and dropped to her knees, crawling to where his blood seal lay exposed to the sky. She reached out, trying to touch him—she had never touched him, he had never touched her—and her green, hideous hands brushed against his blood seal._

This was the first time Delilah had woken up crying.

She gasped, trying to get air into her lungs. She sat up, looking around the room and trying to peer through the dim lighting, searching for Alphonse. When she couldn't find him, she croaked out his name, and her tears blinded her.

There was a sleepy, confused grunt from somewhere beside her, and Marcoh sat up. "…Delilah? What's wrong?"

She turned to him, too distressed to care about their broken relationship, and dove against his chest. "I-I killed him!"

He stiffened a little, but he caught on quickly. He put his arms around her and patted her back. "It was just a dream."

"I-I know," she said, digging her fingers into Marcoh's coat. "B-but I… He was broken and I…" She couldn't remember doing anything to Alphonse in the dream, but she knew it had been her fault. It had to be.

"Who was?" the doctor asked quietly.

"A-Alphonse." She squeezed her eyes shut.

"You miss him a lot, don't you?"

She nodded.

He sighed. "It was just a dream. It's okay."

It felt like it had been real. She felt guilty, like she really had somehow killed Alphonse, like she would never hear his voice again. Like she would never be able to have the chance to really touch him.

She felt disgusting again.

Delilah pulled away from Marcoh and wiped at her eyes, doing her best to push the memory of the dream aside for the moment. "Do you…" She paused and looked at her lap. "Even with a Stone, do you think it would be possible for me to…to change?"

Marcoh frowned. "What do you mean?"

She raised her arms a little. "My body."

His face fell. "It's not like it's some sort of illness. You can't just fix how you were born, or your genetics. Trying to do that would…would be impossible."

An odd pressure built up in her head and in her chest. It was hard for her to think, hard for her to breathe. "I-I thought that might be," she managed to say. "But I hoped that maybe…" She coughed and suddenly groaned in frustration, rubbing her face with her hands. "I-I'm so tired of c-crying…."

"There's nothing wrong with crying," Marcoh said, a little startled at the sudden change in topic. "It's not a sign of weakness or anything."

"I-it's not that," she said, gasping a little. "I j-just hate feeling this way and…and I know other people don't want me to c-c…"

She knew she was stalling. She didn't want to deal with what Marcoh had told her. She didn't want to believe that the Stone could do nothing for her body. She didn't want to think about her awful dream or her awful predicament. She wanted to dive into a dreamless sleep and just forget.

"Delilah…" Marcoh didn't seem to know what to say.

She shook her head. "I… I need to be alone." She stood on shaky legs and hurried out of the door as fast as she could. Marcoh didn't do a thing to stop her.

Delilah was only able to get about ten feet from the shack before fell to her knees. She leaned over, vomiting what little she had in her stomach onto the snow. She stayed hunched for several minutes, dry-heaving, and the snow began to soak into her pants, causing her to shiver.

She didn't know if she would ever stop feeling disgusted with herself. She wanted a different body more than anything, something clean and pure, and the thought made her angry because she was so goddamn jealous of others and tired with herself. In the back of her mind, she'd known that there was no way to change what she was, but lying to herself had kept her going. She could still fix her mistake with the Stone, but other than that, she had no idea what to do. She didn't know if she could live with herself.

_I…should just give up._

She thought about how easy it would be to just stand up and walk out into the frozen woods, to walk until she exhausted herself, to fall into the snow and wait to die. She wondered if the actual moment of passing was painless or not.

Delilah suddenly gasped, flinching at the idea. She didn't want to die. She remembered the time in Gluttony's stomach when Envy almost killed her—she remembered when she had shot at him, when she had stabbed him. She had been terrified then and she was terrified now.

"…I don't want to die," she muttered. She wanted to see Alphonse and Edward and Winry and travel with them, laugh with them, and forget about the difficult things. She wanted to be with Alphonse, to sleep in his armor or to just talk with him about anything. She wanted to hold Alphonse's hand, like he wanted to hold hers, even though she had the body that she did.

She didn't love herself, but she loved being with her friends. She loved _them_. She couldn't really explain to herself why she could love them when she couldn't love herself, but it was a fact she couldn't deny. She would do almost anything for any one of them, and she knew they wouldn't want her to die.

She had to see them again. She had to find and follow that red string back to Alphonse.

The chill of the snow became too much to bear after a few minutes. She sighed and used the snow to clean her mouth before she stood and headed back to the tiny hut.

()()()()()

"Most of these important parts are Ishvalan," Marcoh said. He ran a hand over his tired eyes. "Scar might be able to translate them, but we obviously can't."

Delilah, a little weary from all of the reading they'd been doing for the past two days, peered at the page Marcoh was looking at. She recognized none of the letters.

"I hope Mr. Scar and Mr. Yoki are all right," May said worriedly. "It's been a while since we've seen them."

Delilah wouldn't have minded if they never came at all, to be honest. "Well, I guess we just keep doing what we can until they get here."

May nodded, but she looked distracted. She put down her pen. "I've been thinking about your alchemy. You, um, use the earth's power, right?"

Marcoh nodded. "The equations for harnessing that power were completed over three hundred and fifty years ago. There's a legend that says a philosopher from the east gave us those—but that's just a legend."

May shifted uneasily and looked both of the alchemists in the eye. "That chi that man underneath Central had…its spread over all your country. I can feel it, and it isn't coming from the movement of the earth's plates. I can feel that in Xing, back home. But his chi and the power you're using…it feels like lots and lots of people."

A chill ran down Delilah's spine. "Like a Philosopher's Stone?"

May looked confused. "What?"

"…They're made of the souls of people," Marcoh said reluctantly. "People are sacrificed to make them."

The girl's eyes widened, and she paled. She didn't speak.

"…That man made a homunculus while I was there," Delilah said quietly. "I'd been injured, so I wasn't really watching it happen, but he put a Stone in Ling's body. So the man had a ready supply of them…. Alphonse didn't tell me how it happened exactly." She shivered a little, wondering if May was actually right—that all alchemists in Amestris had somehow been fooled into using souls instead of the earth for power.

"…This is unnerving, however you look at it," Marcoh said. "And that's putting it lightly."

May was still digesting the information. "They're…people?" She looked down at the rotted table, at the pages of notes they'd written about the research. "…I guess this is why Mr.—"

The sound of snow crunching beneath boots reached the trio's ears, and fear shot through Delilah's veins. She whipped her head around to look at the door, and in walked two men; one thick, muscular and imposing, the other scrawny, greasy and whining.

The two men stopped just inside the entrance, but then the first man walked forward. He drew back his hood, revealing his brown skin and the X-shaped scar on his forehead. He narrowed his red eyes at Delilah.

"Who is this?"

* * *

_a/n: Let's just call this fic Angstmetal Alchemist because that's all this is this is the story_

_Have I mentioned that I miss Alphonse a lot because I really, really do. (I know I've mentioned this before.)_

_Unfortunately, my friend hasn't been able to make me that fanart cover for my story yet, but she promises me that it'll be ready by the time the 12th comes around, so hopefully she's right! I have 95% of the anniversary chapter written; I only have to write the Q&A portion now. So, if you have any extra questions, now's the time to ask them! _

_I don't really have much else to say tonight. I wrote up a couple polls and put one on my profile. The one up right now is "What do you think is the WORST part about Insomniacs?" I always try to be a little funny with the answers you can choose when I make polls. Enjoy!_


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